January 12, 2013. (Romereports.com) The year was 1962. An unexpected snowstorm blanketed Senigallia, in the Italian province of Ancona. The freezing temperatures chipped at the daily routine of local seminarians. Their moments on the snow, captured on film, have achieved posterity, and so has their photographer.

Mario Giacomelli obtained, but not without struggle, permission to live one year with the seminarians.

SILVANA BONFILI
Museo di Roma in Trastevere
“We say it was in the 60's when he began taking pictures of the priests inside of the seminary at Senigallia. He follows them closely for a year within the seminary, living with the oldest and the youngest.”

Mario Giacomelli witnessed the ailments of old age for elderly priests, as well as the enthusiasm of the youngest, all reflected in his images.

He saw within religion a way to ask oneself existential questions, and during his life, his photographic work on daily routines and landscapes showed that.

SILVANA BONFILI
Museo di Roma in Trastevere
“The landscapes turned abstract because, as he said, they were from his memories, they were from his soul. Looking from his first images to the last images he took, you can see that through them he photographed their ins and outs.”

The seminarian's joy, playing in the snow, marked Mario Giacomelli. He realized that despite all they gave up, through their vocations they were still able achieve happiness. The exhibit will be at Museo di Roma in Trastevere until the end of January.


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