Sze Tsung Nicolás Leong

Sze Tsung Nicolás Leong

Abigail Cohen Rome Prize
10 settembre 2018–26 luglio 2019
Professione
Photographer, Los Angeles
Titolo del progetto
. . . Urbis et Orbis Idem
Descrizione del progetto

I plan to make expansive photographs of Rome and cities throughout Italy. My approach would be topological, in the sense of making visually abundant and dense pictures; and also one of making the familiar strange, by looking for perspectives that take us away from the street-level views we see every day toward unfamiliar elevated views we rarely see—a shift to a more encompassing view, where we can see our environments as a whole, gain perspective above our normal limits, and make sense of our place in the larger world. I see this work as part of my larger ongoing project to create a picture of the world through its cities. Rome and Italian cities would add a crucial perspective to this global picture. Rome is one of the first world cities—the original Caput Mundi (Capital of the World). In many ways, in order to understand the world’s cities, it is necessary to understand Rome. As Ovid wrote: Romanae spatium est urbis et orbis idem—the world and the city of Rome occupy the same space.