2011-03-18

Disasters and Aftermaths. A winterly view of the Mount Coppetto landslide

I still remember it as it was yesterday. I was in Spain partecipating to the annual "Logic Colloquium" held, that time, in Granada when, in a restaurant, I saw in the TV some scenes from a seamingly familiar place. To my surprise, and fear, it was Valtellina, and the news was that a large scale natural disaster was infuriating there. In the beginning it was torrents and rivers overflowing but then ... as in any complex system, the chain reaction shifted things to a gigantic landslide of an entire mountain. My parents, relative as well as the entire population of the area had been evacuated and temporaly went to the houses up in the mountains. You can find some more info on the disaster here. This winter I decided to get back to the place 23 years after to make some photographic scouting and took the pictures above. I plan to get there more extensively this year.

Italian ...

Lo ricordo ancora come se fosse ieri. Ero in Spagna, partecipavo al Logic Colloquium annuale, tenuto, in quell'occasione, a Granada quando, in un ristorante, ho visto alla televisione alcune scene di luoghi apparentemente familiari. Era la Valtellina, e la notizia era che un disastro naturale di ampia scala stava infuriando da quelle parti. All'inizio erano torrenti e fiumi che straripavano poi ... come in ogni sistema complesso, la reazione a catena fece slittare le cose su una enorme frana di una intera montagna. Potete trovare qui maggiori informazioni sul disastro. Questo inverno 23 anni dopo ho deciso di tornare sul posto per fare un po di ricognizione e ho preso le foto di cui sopra. Quest'anno ho pianificato di tornarci con maggior frequenza.

3 comments:

Mike C. said...

like the train pictures, but I think you've got yourself a real "subject" here, Mauro -- the personal backstory really adds some depth. Go for it.

Mike

Mauro Thon Giudici said...

Thanks Mike for your support, I really appreciate it ... and by the way I still did not have the opportunity to thank you for the beautiful postcard you sent me.

Yes this is an interesting place and a subject too, not to say that as a project it may even be more than enough circumscribed.

Mike C. said...

That last image is sensational (especially, if I may be so bold, if you were to crop off some of that foreground snow). Make a set of images of this standard, couple them with the history and your personal connection with it, and you've got an exhibition.

I look forward to seeing it.

Mike