Realpolitik (2018 – 2019)
The Third Republic
by Luca Santese and Marco P. Valli
Published on Boys Boys Boys, Popolopopolo, Lega Nord Party and MoVimento Lento zines.
On March 4, 2018, the election day for the current Italian government, Boys Boys Boys is published. The volume collects a sequence of satirical portraits of politicians in the race during the election campaigns. After two months of consultations, the Conte Government was born, stemming from an alliance between the two major political forces, Lega and Five Star Movement (M5S).
On June 2, 2018, the day after the inception of the so-called “yellow-green” government, the second edition of Boys Boys Boys is published as well, printed in black and white as an ironical reference to the negative connotation of such occurrence. In the meantime, Santese and Valli are in Rome, photographing the celebrations for Italy’s Republic Day.
A month later (July 2, 2018) the two photographers publish Popolopopolo, a third volume comprising of photos of citizens participating in the celebrations on June 2, 2018, a date that marks the birth of the Third Republic.
On July 1, 2018, the Santese and Valli reach Pontida, a municipality in Lombardy where the main Lega rally has been held annually since 1990. Since 2011, the photographers have documented the party’s celebration and rallies. It is the selection of the entire material produced during the last seven years to form Lega Nord Party, fourth volume of the series.
During 2018, Santese and Valli covered the major events held by the M5S party, photographing party militants in Rome during the government’s party in Piazza Bocca della Verità, in June, and the event Italia 5 Stelle at Circus Maximus, in October. On February 26, 2019 the authors release the fifth chapter of the series, MoVimento Lento.
The intent of the entire operation is documented the most significant phenomena and events that are characterizing the political present of the country through independent publications and photographic exhibitions, producing a constant authorial documentation that is not limited to observing the events but offering a constant vision critical-satirical.