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A Lesson in Black and White:

An Analysis of Matteo Cireneis Milano
By Arielle Glaspie
ENGL 357 - VCL

Introduction
Matteo Cirenei was born and raised in Italy. In addition to photography, Cirenei
also works in the fields of furniture design and corporate identity design. He has lived in
Milan for most of his life, and all of the pictures included in this photo essay were
inspired by and taken there. Since the early 1990s, Cirenei has been working on a new
branch of architecture photography, which he has christened his photographic research
in black and white on architecture (Cirenei). In this venture, Cirenei focuses on
capturing extremely specific pieces of famous architectural works in Milan and other
European capitals, which were dubbed architectural limbo by Domus magazine
(Milano). In addition to architectural limbo, Cirenei purposefully shot his photos with
black and white development in mind, using light itself as an almost-physical
enhancement of the architecture. This style of photography gives a more aesthetic and
abstract feel to the structures by using ambiguity to exclude the overall design of the
building (Cirenei), such as in Image 1 below.




















Image 1




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Formal Analysis
I will be using concepts and ideas from Scott McClouds Understanding
Comics: The Invisible Art and National Geographics Complete Photography to
study Matteo Cireneis Milano and bring to light some key principles of the photo
essays form that may not be initially apparent to the viewer.

McClouds Triangle
In his book Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud introduces to his readers
the idea of the Big Triangle. In this triangle, the left hand point represents realistic
images such as photographs and anatomically correct drawings. The right hand point
represents language, which uses letters and words. These two points are crowned by
the picture plane, which is made up of squares, circles, and other basic shapes. Using
this concept of the Big Triangle, McCloud reveals how every image and picture ever
created can be mapped within this model, including the photographs of Matteo Cirenei
(McCloud, 51).
Most photographs fit neatly into the left hand realism point of the Big Triangle.
This is because the very purpose of a photograph is to capture reality as exactly as
possible. But Cirenei chose to use an unusual technique for this photo essay, so his work
actually fits in a little differently. Cireneis architectural limbo technique creates an
abstract atmosphere within the photograph so his images actually look more like an
abstract artists canvas than architecture. Consequently, Cireneis work belongs higher,
in between the realistic and picture plane points. Some of his photographs, like Image 1,
are even more basic and abstract, and therefore could be place even higher.

Light

In black and white, the ideas behind the art are communicated more
directly. Meaning transcends form.
-McCloud, 192

Cireneis work really reflects the above quote from McClouds Understanding
Comics, even though Cirenei is not personally influenced by McCloud. By bypassing
the use of color, Cirenei is able to use light itself as a sort of color to add an almost-
physical extension to the featured architecture, when actually the extension is merely
captured shadow (see Image 2 & 3 below). This requires a keen, premeditated awareness
of light and how it to best use (Complete, 115). It can be hard to do, especially since the
photographer sees the world in color while taking the photograph. Cirenei chooses his
quality of light very carefully by shooting only on clear days with lots of strong wind
(Cirenei). He also uses intense light, such as that obtained when photographing in the
middle of the day, to produce sharp-edged shadows and high contrast (Complete, 116
& 124) in many of his pictures, adding a rich depth to his photographs.




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Positive and Negative Space
Many of Cireneis photos focus, not only on capturing an abstract representation
of the building, but also on using the sky to emphasize interesting architecture (Cirenei).
This correlates with the composition idea of positive and negative space. Cirenei uses
empty space like an object (Complete, 92) in order to juxtapose the architectural
structure (Image 4). In many of his photographs, 3D interpretation of the image is not
possible, so the background and the foreground come together and are seen on the same
plane. In other words, the picture lacks depth, but is more compositionally pleasing
because of it (Image 5).

Image 2

Image 3

Image 5 Image 4




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Lines
According to McClouds Understanding Comics, lines in comics and other
works of art carry with them an expressive potential (124). The way a line is drawn can
affect the emotions of the viewer. The same concept can be applied to photography.
Portraits or other pictures where humans or animals are the subject contain many semi-
circular or curved lines, which viewers subconsciously translate into warmth and
gentleness (McCloud, 125). In contrast, many architectural subjects, with their straight
horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines convey timelessness, pride and strength, and
dynamic change respectively (McCloud, 125). Because of their rectangular shape many
buildings express a sense of conservative rationality (McCloud, 125). However, because
of Cireneis desire to shoot only specific angles or cuts, and also because of his desire to
use positive and negative space, most of these emotional expressions are not present in
his work. Instead, Cireneis lines lean more towards being honest, direct and just
downright random (McCloud 125), as can be seen in Images 4 and 5.

Patterns and Textures
Patterns and textures are not often thought about when it comes to architecture.
Perhaps this is because so many of the structures use vast panes of glass or other
smooth-sided materials. Perhaps it is only because we as viewers do not take the time to
see these patterns and textures. Whatever the reason, Cirenei does a wonderful job of
filling that gap, as can be seen in Images 6 and 7 below. He uses architectural repetition
to create unexpected abstractions of otherwise ordinary shapes and reinforce[s] the
pattern by standing out from it (Complete, 100).




Image 6

Image 7




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Word/Picture Combination
Unlike many photographers, Cirenei offers no explanations or context of his
pictures. He includes only a location of the building and the year it was taken in. It is
entirely up to the viewers to decipher why Cirenei would include these particular photos
in his presentation. This offers an initially invigorating, but also perplexing
independence to the viewer as to why these particular pictures were included and how
they fit into Cireneis idea of photographic research (About). There are no stipulations
put on the viewer to realize any specific feature within the photo, so the viewer is free to
take the photos as they are and interpret them anyway they want. This fits with the
artistically abstract style that Cirenei has developed in this essay.
McCloud addresses word/picture combination by dividing it into seven
categories (McCloud, 153-5), only one of which is applicable here. By declining to use
text to context or explain his photographs, Cirenei places his work solely within the
picture specific category. McCloud defines picture specific combinations as situations
where words do little more than add a soundtrack to a visually told sequence
(McCloud, 153). In fact, Cireneis text does less than that. Many of Cireneis photos can
be fully appreciated without knowing where or when they were taken. This is because
he uses architecture and buildings as the focus of his work instead of people. Viewers
tend to want to relate to or understand the subject of a photo more so when the focus is
on an animate object. That need or wish to relate is not as strong in architectural
contexts because the focus is on an inanimate object.

Content Analysis
Because Milano is an essay as well as a photograph collection, an analysis of its
content in addition to its form is necessary. Here, I will apply pathos, ethos, and logos
and evaluate the purpose of Cireneis Milano.

Ethos and Pathos
Cirenei collaborates with three separate magazines: Domus (in which Milano is
published), Casabella, and Interni. The very fact that his photographs are published in
public magazines instead of on a blog or other dubious Internet source enforces
Cireneis credibility as a photo essayist. One interesting point I noticed is that Cirenei
never writes his own articles. The descriptions of his work I obtained for this analysis
were all written from a third party, never first hand by Cirenei himself. This dampens
his credibility somewhat in my eyes because the information I read is already second
hand. I suppose from a different viewpoint, one could argue that having a third party
write the article and add his/her input would add rather than detract credibility since
the writer of the article is, in a sense, issuing their own analysis of Cireneis work. Still, I
believe that Milano would have been more impacting if Cirenei had written his own
article. The writing author of Milano has, after all, been hired by Domus to make their
article look spectacular.
Reflectively, Cireneis emotional appeal to the viewer to stop and look is
stunning. His abstract style uses light and shadow in a cohesive manner, uniting two
seemingly opposite forces. Cirenei is not using this appeal to persuade, but rather to
present, much as an artist or teacher would do. The viewer is free to take or leave
whatever viewpoint or opinion they want.




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Evaluation of Purpose
Photo essays are created to make a point in pictures. They are used to convey an
idea to the viewers. I believe the message Cirenei is transmitting through Milano is to
not be afraid to look at the world in a different way. By using architectural limbo to
ignore the entire structure, or big picture, of a building, Cirenei created an unusual and
sometimes not instantly recognizable piece of art. Yes, thats right, art. As I said when I
categorized Cireneis works in McClouds Big Triangle, Milano actually belongs in
between the realistic and picture plane points, instead of firmly in the realism point
along with almost every other photograph. This is because Cirenei uses architectural
limbo to paint an abstract canvas with photographic film. Cirenei may not have
initially intended his photographic research in black and white on architecture
(Cirenei) to snowball into an entirely new photographic genre, but after ten years of
research thats exactly what Milano evolved into (see Image 8).


























Image 8




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Works Cited

About. Matteo Cirenei Photography and Communication. Web site.
http://matteocirenei.wordpress.com/about/.

Cirenei, Matteo. Facebook. Web site.
http://m.facebook.com/MatteoCireneiPhotography?v=info&expand=1&nearby&refid=
17.

Milano- Matteo Cirenei. Domus. Web Site.
http://www.domusweb.it/en/photo-essays/2014/02/04/matteo_cirenei_milan.html.

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. McCloud, Scott. Harper Collins Publisher.
1993. NY, NY.

Complete Photography. National Geographic. National Geographic Society. 2011.
Washington DC.