History Matters, Please Don't Forget
Author's Notes

History Matters is a small photography project that I made in 2020, created using digital collages in the vein of Paradoxically, in that it employs paradox as a means of expression.

Giambattista Vico said that history consists of cycles and recurrences. This is certainly true, but it also depends on the attitude we humans have toward it. Only by understanding and learning from the events and phenomena that make up history can we prevent certain tragedies from repeating themselves and build a better society. 

History Matters was developed precisely with this purpose in mind: to prompt reflection on the tragedy of the Holocaust—arguably the most despicable act perpetrated by humankind in history, given how it was conceived in a cold, calculated, methodical, and large-scale manner. But that’s not all. The project aims to forge a link with contemporary Western society, dominated by the logic of consumption, which has led, on the one hand, to widespread prosperity, but on the other, to major contradictions as well.

From the comparison between what was and what is today, a fundamental paradox emerges: Are we truly heading in the direction of remembering the tragedies of the past, or rather of forgetting them due to an ever-increasing need to live for pleasure and erase all forms of pain? Where will this attitude truly lead us if we fail to recognize its negative consequences? Or perhaps, given today’s developments in the global situation, where is it already leading us?