Francesco Merlini
‘The Flood’
by Francesco Merlini, published by Void.
“Tragedy in classical theory is supposed to inspire both pity and terror, but the daily horror and violence of world news often leave us struggling to produce those responses. No one can really feel on cue the emotions apparently required of us by a daily news stream of anniversaries of bombings and economies on the brink. But a hippo being shot with a tranquilizer dart in a flooded city street is another matter entirely.”
Jonathan Jones
The Flood
Late on 13 June 2015 heavy rainfalls hit Tbilisi and the nearby areas. By the morning, 19 people would be dead. Many families were now homeless, a zoo destroyed, and a city in shock. The city became a wilderness full of dangerous beasts.
The zoo lost more than 300 animals. The majority, killed by flooding. Several survivors — a hippopotamus, big cats, wolves, bears, and hyenas—escaped from destroyed pens and cages to the streets of Tbilisi. Some were killed, others recaptured and brought back to the zoo.
Drawing upon an aesthetic born from surrealism, the project hints at personal fascinations, alongside visions of dystopia feeding upon the portent of current threats and events. Verschaeave is interested in the idea of ‘magical realism’ and the addition of something ‘extra’ into the common-place and the mundane. Taking the leap and transplanting the genre from literary fiction into black and white photography—the visual language with past associations with documentary and truth telling— Verschaeave layers a veil of poetry over the every day.
Many Georgians condemned the foreign media’s focus on the zoo and their indifference to the stories of the human victims.
Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, an influential head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, in his Sunday sermon, blamed the floods on the "sin" of the former Communist regime. Which, he said, built the zoo in its current location using money raised from destroying churches and melting down their bells.
Francesco Merlini
Francesco was born in Aosta, Italy, in 1986 and he’s based in Milan. After a bachelor's degree in industrial design at the Politecnico University of Milan, he completely devoted himself to photography. He works on documentary long-term projects. Always looking for a point of contact between his photojournalistic background and a strong interest in metaphors and symbolism.
In 2016 he was selected by the British Journal of Photography for 'The Talent Issue: Ones to Watch’. In 2020, Francesco was shortlisted for the “Prix HSBC pour la Photographie”. In 2021, he's been one of the nominees for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award.
Merlini has been exhibited worldwide in collective and solo exhibitions. And his pictures have been published on Italian and international outlets as Washington Post, Financial Times, Le Monde, L'Espresso, Internazionale, Corriere della Sera, D. La Repubblica, Sette, Wired, Gq, Die Welt, La Stampa, Rolling Stone.
17 x 22,7 cm
76 pages
Limited edition of 500 copies
Hardcover with Obi
ISBN 978-618-5479-08-4
The Flood
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✳︎ Winner — FotoRoom + Void open call 2019
✳︎ Selected for the ‘Index Naturae’ Exhibition at Omnefest, Italy 2023
✳︎ Selected for the ‘Demons’ Exhibition at Charta Festival, Roma 2021
Photobookstore Magazine – Best Photobooks of 2021: Vanessa Winship
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ENGLAND, Picnic
GERMANY, The Photobook Museum
GREECE, National Library of Greece
GREECE, Photometria Photography Center
GREECE, Void
IRELAND, The Library Project
LATVIA, ISSP
PORTUGAL, Narrativa
ROMANIA, Photo Romania Festival at Grain Lab
SWITZERLAND, De Pietri Artphilein Foundation
USA, Columbia University Library
USA, MoMA Library
USA, New York Public Library, The
USA, Princeton University Library
USA, University of Alabama
USA, University of Maryland Libraries
USA, University of Pittsburgh
USA, University of Texas at Dallas
USA, Yale University Library
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Photograph: Francesco Merlini
Text: Francesco Merlini
Design: João Linneu
Edit: Myrto Steirou
Printing: MAS Matbaa
Binding: MAS Matbaa
Language: English
Font: Fieldwork Hum DemiBold by TipoType
Francesco Merlini © for the photographs and text
Void © for this edition