We humans are able to perceive a three-dimensional reality. Photography, on the other hand, gives us a representation based on only two dimensions, as it develops on a flat surface. In the real world there are no two-dimensional images and, for this reason, the representation of only two dimensions that does not have a spatial location is not conceivable by the human mind. Consequently, when we look at a photograph, the third dimension, or depth, is created by the mind of the observer. As strange as it may seem at first glance, the fourth dimension, time, is always present within a photograph. Unlike the cinematographic technique, where the passage of time is told through the succession of several frames that give back to our brain the sensation of movement, the fourth dimension in a photograph is represented by a single frame. If we use a short shutter speed, we will obtain an 'instantaneous' image, where only a small moment is frozen within the image, if instead we set a longer shutter speed, we are able to include within our photograph what it happens over a period of time of a few seconds or, in the most extreme cases, even of many hours.

The images contained in this book were taken on the north coast of Rome and its surroundings.

Pino D'Amico