Kino: eyes to the sea

​

 

I met Kino doing some portraits in the studio.

The result was a friendship and the curiosity to understand something more than his way of life.

Kino alternates long periods of travel with everyday life in the village, in the valley working and being reconciled with what binds him to these places: family and love for the nature of our mountains.

 

​

Enus:

When did your interest in "the journey" begin?

Kino:

I think my interest in the trip was born in 2010 after a summer study holiday. I thank my mom for convincing me to go. I spent two weeks in a college, in southern Ireland, precisely in Cork, with other Italian boys that I did not know. We studied, had parties, sports.

We met and appreciated each other, more or less.

I believe that from that moment I became trapped, in some way, by that world of sharing and spontaneous happiness, carefree, commitment, respect and curiosity.

 

 

Enus:

Why do you travel, what drives you to travel?

Kino:

Curiosity is the answer to this question

I have an obsession with wanting to see, to visit as many places as possible, to support my feet in every nation.

Although over time I started doing it without hurry, without frenzy, enjoying the experience more. Stopping, maybe for more time in a place because traveling is very stressful.

Curiosity, thirst for knowledge and certainly also the desire to "escape" from Valtellina: these are the reasons why I love to travel.

Here in the valley to really feel "normal", in my opinion, you must have a lifestyle that includes work (which generally "imprisons you" for 40 years until retirement).

You have to have a girlfriend, and you have to start a family.

Family that you will have to "keep" economically slaving until your legs and back can hold

Maybe I was too quick, negative and generalized. But it is reality, a model of society that we all know, common in the Western world, at least. 

But that said, travel always enriches you, even if you do absolutely nothing for months, you learn something about the real world, about yourself, your mind, your emotions, your reactions.

You learn to face fears, you learn to reflect and to cultivate your ambitions.

​

 

Enus:

How do you choose your goals ( I mean also on an emotional level, of expectations, of curiosity)?

Kino:

As for my travels I would say that I do not plan by choosing the destinations with a particular criterion I would say that I choose instinctively and out of sheer curiosity.

 Australia for example was a destination that I absolutely wanted to reach because as a child I read some books describing this country, so far away, wild and full of incredible animals ... Besides, everyone said how easy it was to make a lot of money in a short time ... well, now I can confirm everything.

​

 

Enus:

How do you organize your trips ?

Kino:

The management of my trips is very casual and instinctual, so I love to travel alone.

I go where I want to go and when I want to go.

I look for information on the spot,  in hostels and on the internet and especially ask other travelers.

 It’s the absolute best way to discover places, habits, curiosities and hidden treasures by attending and experiencing the moment with the people who live there.

Authentic people who do not deal with hospitality and tourism but live everyday life in those places in my eyes extraordinary.

 

 

Enus:

When you leave you already know that there will be a return, at least so it was. Have you ever thought, as opposed to staying in those places?

Kino:

There were some destinations where I stayed longer and where I really enjoyed... for example Antigua, Guatemala, and also Fremantle in Australia.

But I’m an only child, I love my parents, I owe everything to my parents, I have grandparents, uncles, aunts and especially cousins that I love and that grow very quickly.

Every time I come back they are higher they change voice and ways of doing ... and every time I think about it and I realize I have lost so much.

So no, so far no place has made me think I’m staying... at least until now.

 

Enus:

Tell me about the places that made you think the most.

Kino:

I love to think, when I am near the sea, when I see it or can feel the waves, I always think intensely.

Every time I travel if there is a sea I look for it!

Nature and sea, green and blue fill eyes and soul. The people and the relationships of friendship that I build during the trip.

On more than one occasion, far from home I thought about how lucky I am to have all the comforts we know: the sofa on which to rest, play, eat, a bed in "memory" on which to sleep, a 50 inch plasma TV, the stove, the machine, the designer clothes.

All definitely too much compared to what I saw in my travel experiences: there are those who live among wood and mud, in houses made of poor materials such as sheets where you die from the heat or if it rains and it’s even worse cold; there are those who feed on food and water definitely at the limit of health.

​

Enus:

Tell me about the meetings that have moved you.

Kino:

I’ve had several that filled my heart!

I will tell some of them:

In January 2019 I went to Sri Lanka a couple of weeks before returning to Australia for my second year.

I was in Colombo, the capital.

I had arrived a couple of days and I was on the beach.

Only men came by asking if I wanted weed or offering to give massages.

 At a certain moment I see a small man about 50 years old with a good and pure face that invites me to follow him to see turtles.

We walked for about two kilometers along a short stretch of railway and not far we reached this place where a young boy had created a special covered structure where he had organized a shelter to save turtles: There were different species, even albino ones.

There were so many of them and I was so happy that the man who had accompanied me,  David, so I seem to remember he was called,  happy even more than I am, he started taking pictures and making movies with my phone.

The most exciting moment was when we released a little turtle, just born, in the ocean!

I still have those videos and I care about them.

I left an offer to the "turtle" boy and then followed David home where I met his family and drank tea.

There was no comfort, no sofa, no television, not even pillows to sit on. ,just wood and straw, but we were facing the ocean!

I remember leaving them a lot of money and I left my heart there.

I had another great experience on my last trip to Central America.

I had just crossed the border between Guatemala and El Salvador after 15 hours by bus from Antigua.

At the border I would have to look for another bus that in three hours would take me to Santa Ana where I had booked a hostel for the night.

While I try to figure out where and when the bus should have passed without the slightest certainty of making it, there is a car.

There was a family on board, with two children.

 They wanted to give me a lift and although they had to stop long before my destination,  Santa Ana,  they decided to make an extra hour of travel to leave me in front of the hostel!

I spent three hours sitting in the back of the car talking to the ever-smiling four-year-old.

To amuse him I showed him all the photos of animals that I had on my phone until he collapsed dead tired on my left shoulder.

Father and I talked about football, life and religion.

They were very polite,  kind.. and I was infinitely grateful to them.

​

 

Enus:

Tell me what you think of reality, of everyday life: do you have the opportunity to confront yourself with ways of living and thinking so different from the reality of the valley you have ever compared them?

Kino:

The two months after I returned from my last trip were really traumatic and much, much more difficult than I expected.

I’m back at the factory. I started to live again paranoia for not having the necessary time to spend with friends, family or to devote to sports.

The pace is always hectic, chaotic and stressful!

Sometimes I think that for everyone the most important thing, the most important thing is to work to make money, more and more money.

I never liked capitalism and I will never like it: for this reason I just have a couple of money and I enjoy them.

 I’ll let the others run for the richest title in the cemetery!

 

 

Enus:

 Do you have any idea what you want to make happen in your future?

Kino:

I have no idea, it is a question that has always put me in difficulty, I have too many doubts and uncertainties, but also many ideas maybe too many even these...better to enjoy the present fully!

​

 

Enus:

Nature and people, what do you think?

Kino:

Nature and people are connected. We are connected. Stay in the middle of the plants, walk barefoot in the woods, grow and eat fruits and vegetables from your own garden, breathe clean air, have the opportunity to swim in the ocean.. these things are the essence of life in my opinion.

​

NOTE ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS

 

For the studio shoots i used a  medium format camera an HASSELBLAD 500 CM combined with the PLANAR 80 MM lens with maximum aperture at f/2.8. I used medium format 120 film and in this series i mounted a BN ROLLEI ORTHO 25 film with an exposure index of 50 ISO .

For the open air  shoots  i used a 35 MM CAMERA NIKON F5 combined with NIKKOR ZOOM 28-105 MM lens with maximum aperture at f/3.5 mounted an ILFORD DELTA 3200 film used with an exposure index of 3200 ISO.