Photographic exhibition: On the CUSP

Inspired, in part, by the direct gaze of Rineke Dijkstra, On the Cusp consists of a series of urban portraits taken in different cities around the world. The subjects—adolescents captured in public spaces—look directly at the camera as if posing a question, suspended in a moment of anticipation and definition. Each image captures a moment of transition: the adolescent, still on the brink, faces a future that is both promise and uncertainty. The cities, ever-changing and layered, provide the backdrop to this universal condition, amplifying the sense of transition. The project explores adolescence as a threshold: a fragile yet powerful time that the photographer attempts to capture right before the change.

Francesca Capasso was born in Milan. During her studies in visual arts and cinema in France, where she earned a Ph.D. in cinema, she developed a photographic practice that blurs the line between representation and observation, between staged construction and exploration of reality. Her research is mainly focused on stage photography and documentary projects, two areas that constantly interact in her work.

Her experience as a stage photographer for theater and dance stems from her background as a dancer in her youth, which continues to influence her perspective. In this context, her work expands beyond the mere documentation of the performance, delving into the moments preceding it: the rehearsal rooms, the suspended moments of preparation, the internal dynamics among the dancers. The body, viewed as a repository of memory, tension, and expressive possibilities, becomes the focal point of a visual exploration that investigates the relationships between gesture, space, and process, rather than just the performative outcome.

In parallel, she is working on a documentary project focused on immigrant workers employed on fishing boats in Livorno. Here, the focus shifts towards work dynamics, belonging, and identity, questioning the conditions of invisibility and marginality that pervade the contemporary context. Through an approach that emphasizes closeness and duration, her work builds a dialogue between aesthetic dimension and ethical responsibility, linking artistic practices with social urgencies.