Paola Ferrarotti – Notes From a State of Transit
Paola Ferrarotti works from a condition of in-between. Not as a theme, but as a lived state – moving through places, inner shifts, and environments that subtly shape how the body exists within them. Her photographs surface when something in that relationship feels slightly unsettled: a reflection interrupting a surface, a figure negotiating its place in space, a light altering the sense of presence.
She is not drawn to extraordinary scenes. Her attention rests on moments that often remain overlooked, where existence becomes perceptible without needing explanation.
She is not drawn to extraordinary scenes. Her attention rests on moments that often remain overlooked, where existence becomes perceptible without needing explanation.
“Photographing Without a Message”
Ferrarotti does not approach photography with a fixed intention or statement. Her images are not constructed to guide interpretation or deliver meaning. What matters is the experience of the moment itself – the sensation of standing there, feeling the relationship between body and environment before it solidifies into thought.
Each photograph functions as an encounter. What the viewer brings to it becomes part of the work.
Each photograph functions as an encounter. What the viewer brings to it becomes part of the work.
“Narrative as Accumulation”
Narrative in Ferrarotti’s practice does not unfold in sequence. It forms gradually, through the accumulation of fragments. Each image remains autonomous, yet over time they gather into an atmosphere – a persistent inquiry rather than a story with direction.
What surfaces in her work is an awareness of how environments shape us – how architecture, light, and distance affect posture, mood, and self-perception. The human figure, when present, is never dominant. It exists in relation to space, sometimes absorbed by it, sometimes resisting it.
There is no fixed message behind these photographs. No thesis to decode. What matters is resonance – the possibility that someone else might recognize a familiar feeling without needing it named.
What surfaces in her work is an awareness of how environments shape us – how architecture, light, and distance affect posture, mood, and self-perception. The human figure, when present, is never dominant. It exists in relation to space, sometimes absorbed by it, sometimes resisting it.
There is no fixed message behind these photographs. No thesis to decode. What matters is resonance – the possibility that someone else might recognize a familiar feeling without needing it named.
“Traces of Relation”
Looking back at these photographs, Paola does not see records of identity or self-portraiture. She recognizes traces of how she existed in relation to the world at specific moments – how space influenced posture, distance, and perception.
Some images feel close, others unfamiliar. That distance is not accidental. It reflects the shifting nature of presence itself.
There is no nostalgia here. No attempt to preserve moments. These photographs function more like markers – pauses in an ongoing conversation between body and environment.
Some images feel close, others unfamiliar. That distance is not accidental. It reflects the shifting nature of presence itself.
There is no nostalgia here. No attempt to preserve moments. These photographs function more like markers – pauses in an ongoing conversation between body and environment.
“Photography as Attention”
Originally from Argentina and now based in Germany, Ferrarotti began photographing intuitively, using the camera as a way to observe and process experience. Over time, photography evolved into a method of thought – a tool for remaining with questions rather than resolving them.
Her images remain close to uncertainty, close to sensation, close to presence. And in doing so, they invite the viewer into the same state of attention – one that listens before it concludes.
This is what makes Paola Ferrarotti a Rare Storyteller: She does not document places. She documents what it feels like to exist within them.
Her images remain close to uncertainty, close to sensation, close to presence. And in doing so, they invite the viewer into the same state of attention – one that listens before it concludes.
This is what makes Paola Ferrarotti a Rare Storyteller: She does not document places. She documents what it feels like to exist within them.
The pictures and perspectives expressed above are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent the views of Rare Storyteller or its team.
to the world.