Guy Tillim again...Roma, Citta di Mezzo

© Guy Tillim

Ok, I know the first review for the blog I did was about Guy Tillim and this was not all that long ago. However, I thought it necessary to comment on him again as I stumbled (purely by accident) across another of his exhibitions, this time while visiting a good friend in Rome.

My friend made me aware of something called 'Paris Syndrome' early in my week there which is an extremely rare reaction that foreign tourists have while abroad. It is used to describe their culture shock on arrival and mental state while visiting somewhere. Some even have to be returned home. What Guy Tillim's sequence of photos reminded us was closely related to this. In fact, it is the antithesis of this idea. Where 'Paris Syndrome' compels people to take photos of famous landmarks (for example the classic Eiffel Tower photo, or that of the Colliseum), Tillim is seemingly compelled the other way. He takes photos of the famous travellers' city that people see, but do not photograph. This is what makes them so powerful. His images show Rome in its raw form. I'm a great fan of this and I'm desperately trying to get hold of the book of the exhibition which seems only available back at the museum.