Articles by: Laura Caparrotti

  • Life & People

    Portrait of the 9/11 Portraitist

    The following is the translation of an extract of a previously published article for the Italian publication NY Magazine in 2008. It is published with the permission of the author.

    Gary Marlon Suson was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. His love for photography started when he was still in high school, he even won some awards, including a national one, a competition among high schools. “The winning picture was showcased at the World Trade Center. Isn't life strange! Just a few years later I would have a lot to do with that same place. So, I came to New York, from Chicago, to accept my award at a ceremony at the World Trade Center,” Gary says. What a coincidence for him.

     
    He then proceeded to study English Literature at the University of Southern Illinois at Edwardsville, and he later won an acting scholarship at the University of Texas. He had the opportunity to move to New York City to attend an acting seminar led by the famous Uta Hagen and Herbert Bergdorf. He decided to pick up his camera and start shooting again to help his acting and writing career. “Back in 1998 my mother called and asked me 'why don't you work as a waiter to make some money?' and I answered to her 'What else can I do between one role and the other?' So she suggested 'Why not be a photographer?, you have a natural talent and you enjoy it.' My mother even bought me a camera to convince me. I honestly thought I was not really able to do it anymore. Slowly I fell in love with photography again and yes, I did start making more money, especially working in the fashion industry.” At this point in his life, that picture at the World Trade Center was forgotten. So Gary became a fashion photographer, he dubbed important films, worked Off Broadway in “Fool for Love” and “Guiding Light” and in 1999 he wrote “The Taximan Cometh,” a play produced Off Broadway where he portrayed five New York taxi drivers of different ethnic origins.

     Then it's September 11, 2001. Gary starts shooting Ground Zero from behind the barricade. He takes pictures of that giant hole in the ground that held the remains of the two twin towers and all they contained. “I don't know why I started doing that, I just know it was something I felt I had to do. I uploaded the pictures I took on a web site because I wanted to document the tragedy so that nobody would ever forget about it. People heard about this site, at the time simply called 'September 11,' and a few months later, in December to be exact, I was asked to become the official photographer at Ground Zero. That's when I crossed the barricades and made it to the other side. I was told to take pictures of what I wanted as long as I did it with respect and I didn't photograph human remains. The rest was up to me. Let's say I would get there at 8 am, I would take pictures and work non stop for the rest of the day, until 8 pm. I would take a break, eat something, rest a little and go back until 1 or 2 am. That was the best time, it was so silent and peaceful. I would help dig and take more pictures. I always had my camera with me, and if there was nothing to photograph I would continue digging with the others. I wasn't the only one to decide what to photograph, many of the guys working through the rubble would call me if they found something to be captured, like the sign of the 110th floor of one of the towers. I decided though not to capture some intense moments that were especially touching but too personal for some people stricken by the tragedy.”
     
    As the months passed Gary started thinking of ways to pay a ever lasting homage to the families of the victims that would also celebrate the strength that had united so many human beings in trying to overcome the tragedy. That's when, in 2005, the “biggest small museum in New York” the Ground Zero Museum workshop “Images and artifacts from the recovery” was conceived.
     
    Gary was inspired by another tragedy, the Holocaust, and by a young heroine and victim of the tragedy, Anne Frank, whose refuge he had visited in Amsterdam. “It all was so real, it really gave you an idea of what had happened, of what people went through. After the visit I went back to the hotel and cried. I was so taken by the story of that family. I wanted to recreate the same effect, to make people feel and share, in a small part of course, the common tragedy that day brought.”
     
    The museum is intimate, filled with silence, the silence that signifies a great loss. Here Gary has collected objects that were at Ground Zero, given to him by fire fighters and rescue workers. Each picture, each item has a story that everybody can know through an audio recording that is available in English, French, Spanish and Italian.
     
    We ask Gary who comes to visit this small yet immense museum: “We see members of the families touched by September 11, groups of survivors, and visitors from all over the world. New Yorkers did not come for the first year and a half, then they started coming. Their biggest concern was not to see images of the airplanes hitting the twin towers. But slowly they understood that this museum shows a different aspect of the tragedy, the human aspect, made of stories of strength, survival and camaraderie. The only image of the towers in smoke was requested by one of the families, as they thought it unfair to sugar coat it, we had to show what really happened, where it all started.”
     
    In the museum there are plenty of tissues available. Gary adds,“The visitors' first reaction is to take in how small the museum is. Hearing about the stories behind each image really captures them and makes them cry. Here people cry. This museum slowly engulfs you and then strikes. It is a place where people hug, console each other and share whatever is helpful to make us feel better.”
     
    Ground Zero Museum Workshop
    Images & Artifacts from the Recovery
    420 West 14th street
    Tel 212-924 1040
    www.groundzeromuseum.com

    VISITOR TIPS

    Visitors are given 2-hours with which to visit the museum. You will be given an appointed time to visit.

    Visit the Ground Zero Museum First; followed by the Ground Zero Memorial. It will mean a lot more to you.

    Reservation are required. Don't just 'show up' or you will be disappointed.

    Audio tours programmed in French, Italian, English and Spanish.

    Photographs are allowed. Videos are not.

    Plan to spend the entire 2 hours in the museum. You will.

     
  • Events: Reports

    In Search of the Messiah. The Story of a Violinist and her Stradivari

    Once upon a time there was a craftsman who was working in creating an instrument able to produce the most beautiful music in the world. This Master’s name was Antonio Stradivari and he created his gift in Cremona.

    Over the years, Stradivari and another Master named Guarnieri, created the best violins, violas, cellos ever existed. They were to be used my master musicians, by those who enchanted audiences in theaters and courts.  Basically, these instruments were born to be played by expert hands.

    Many centuries later, in the year 2009, the situation is quite different. Most of these instruments are stored in banks, in collectors’ archives, in places where they can only be admired, if so.

     

    Even the most famous violinists cannot easily touch a Stradivari or the Cannone Guarnerius, the violin played by Paganini, now kept by the Paganini Foundation in Genoa.  Screened at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU, the documentary “In Search of the Messiah” showed us that searching a prestigious perfect violin (or cello or viola) is not easy even for the most acclaimed artists.

    Directed by British director Tim Meara and produced by the Italian Luisa Pretolani, the documentary follows Classical BRIT Award winning violinist Ruth Palmer as she travels the world in search of a violin to play. One would think that such an artist would have quite a number of offers to play the most prestigious violins, and yet it’s exactly the contrary. These instruments are so precious, so valued, that only the most acclaimed and popular musicians could afford to own one… maybe. Most of these treasures are bought by very rich collectors, banks, foundations that determine the destiny of the instrument. They are the ones that decide who can play the instrument, they are the Gods who put the instruments in a safe or in a reliquary or in the hands of such and such artist.

    In the documentary, we see one violinist who is lucky enough to be chosen by a collector to play forever one of his many violins. The precious instrument, in this case, is not taken in consideration for its quality, but for the money and power it represents.

    In the name of these latter, a collector can have the control over musicians, that play for him at his own choice. And that's very sad.
    It’s sad to know that these instruments, created for musicians and not for collectors,  ended up being a symbol of power. 

    The director Tim Meara is very passionate about this topic. He looks like a very quiet British young gentleman, but when he talks about the many political compromises musicians have to make in order to play a Stradivari or a Guarnieri, his eyes shine with fire. “The collectors, the people with a lot of money, decide who plays such and such instrument.”

    Needless to say, he’s right in being outraged! Even if he explains us that the documenary showes only his point of view, we cannot disagree at all.

    At Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò Ruth Palmer, the protagonist of the documentary, delighted the audience with a concert in which Brahms, Ravel and others returned to life thanks to her enormous talent and the beautiful music of the ‘Yfrah Neaman’ Stradivari that she had the chance to play for six whole month. She also performed Gwilym Simcock's arrangement of "My Funny Valentine" with the famous British artist and composer Sir Richard Rodney Bennett.

    However, at the end of the day, or better of the six months, if they won't give her the opportunity to continue playing with that precious violin, she might have to start to travel again and again and again in Search of the Messiah. 

  • MUSICA DAL VIVO/ Carlo Muratori: una gemma dalla Sicilia


    New York ti permette spesso di scoprire piccole gemme provenienti dai vari angoli del mondo, Italia inclusa. Prova ne è stata il concerto a cui abbiamo assistito mercoledì scorso. L'annuncio parlava di un pluripremiato cantautore siciliano, Carlo Muratori, e dei suoi accompagnatori, Marco Carnemolla al basso e Francesco Bazzano alla batteria. Le musiche venivano presentate come legate alla tradizione popolare, seppur riviste e riadattate da Muratori stesso. Arriviamo al Joe's Pub, dunque, curiosi di vedere che folla ci sarebbe stata e mentre notiamo che ci sono pochi italiani e molti locali, chiediamo all'ufficio stampa come mai Muratori ha il suo debutto nel prestigioso locale newyorkese. "È semplice - ci dice con grande franchezza -, Carlo ha suonato in Sicilia al matrimonio di un manager della Columbia Records. Ha avuto un tale successo che hanno deciso di presentarlo al pubblico newyorkese."

     

    Ci spiega meglio Muratori durante una chiaccherata dopo il concerto. "La madre dello sposo ha trovato il mio nominativo via internet e mi ha contattato per suonare al matrimonio del figlio, a Taormina. Gli sono piaciuto così tanto che mi hanno detto che se mai fossi andato in Canada a suonare, cosa che capita spesso, mi avrebbero organizzato un concerto a New York. E così è stato! È stata una grande botta di fortuna!"

     

    In realtà, evidentemente la fortuna aiuta i bravi e non solo gli audaci, perchè in questo caso a goderne non è stato solo lui come artista, ma anche noi come pubblico. Il concerto, che ricordiamo è stato di sola chitarra, basso e batteria, è iniziato con una canzone che ricordava brani di chitarra spagnola. Alla fine della canzone, Muratori fra il primo di tanti discorsi, che sanno di teatro, di affabulazione, che coinvolgono il pubblico, lo fanno ridere, lo affascinano. "È un sogno essere a New York - dice - Io suono musica tradizionale e nuova, perchè in Sicilia la storia è dentro di noi, non c'è un vecchio ed un nuovo, il tempo è circolare, il nostro passato, presente  e futuro vive dentro di noi."

     

    Il concerto continua, arriva "Guerra", una canzone dedicata a Falcone e Borsellino. I versi dicono "Guerra, c'è guerra/ammazzunu a li frati comu ‘n guerra/e scoppianu li strati di sta terra /semu tutti surdati di sta guerra" e ci dice Muratori: "Una sera, tornando da un concerto, venimmo fermati dall'esercito con i fucili spianati. Ci perquisirono gli strumenti, la macchina, tutto e io mi sentii in guerra. Erano morti Falcone, Borsellino e con loro le possibilità, le speranze che la Sicilia venisse liberata dal crimine organizzato. Quella sera tornai a casa con questa parola guerra che non mi lasciava andare. Ed è nata questa canzone. Purtroppo la situazione oggi non è diversa, anzi secondo me è anche peggio, c'è un silenzio strano in Sicilia oggi, troppo rumoroso."

     

    Le melodie scorrono, melodie dolci, serenate, la Sicilia che piange e quella che si innamora, intersecando addirittura nel canto il siciliano con il francese. I ritmi vanno da quelli lenti a quelli freneticamente ritmati, potremmo dire da tarantella, anzi da taranta, evitando però gli stereotipi di entrambe. Tutte le canzoni sono scritte da lui, tranne alcune della tradizione, che Muratori concede in piccolissime dosi agli spettatori "solo perchè me le chiedete. Sappiate che la Sicilia va avanti e non indietro."

     

    In realtà, ci racconta Muratori, lui ha fatto con la sua musica un percorso etnologico. "Vengo da trent'anni di ricerca sul campo. Sentivo che mi mancava un piede, la mia radice, e ho iniziato a ricercare e collezionare tutti i canti popolari dal 1700 a oggi. Volente o meno, molto di quello che ho sentito ritorna nelle mie composizioni." Infatti, le sue canzoni si fondono sui ritmi del sud del mondo, su quelli tribali, quelli arabi, quelli spagnoli, quelli appunto tipici del meridione in generale. Forse però, la cosa più emozionante è stato vedere come la lingua siciliana venisse fuori, portata come una rosa pregiata su un vassoio altrettanto pregiato. Non c'è dubbio che i dialetti del nostro paese sono tutti molto particolari e che alcuni sono estremamente belli, purtroppo però spesso il dialetto è associato a qualcosa di spiacevole, di negativo. Invece, in questo caso, la lingua siciliana si è svelata davvero in tutta la sua bellezza e universalità di melodia. Abbiamo chiesto a Muratori se secondo lui c'è spazio nel mercato discografico per la musica che si affida al dialetto. "Vedo che si afferma sempre di più da una parte la globalizzazione e dall'altra la tribalizzazione e non solo in Sicilia. Bisogna stare attenti però che questo ritorno al tribale non diventi anch'esso una moda, triturando quello che contiene di valido. In Sicilia noi abbiamo una ricchezza immensa di testi, di lirica..."

     

    Il concerto si conclude con alcuni bis tradizionalissimi, come "Volare" in onore di Domenico Modugno, e "Vitti ‘na crozza". Salutiamo chiedendo a Muratori se è previsto un ritorno. "Non lo so, spero, se qualcuno mi invita!" Probabilmente, ci dicono dalla CAMI, Muratori tornerà presto a New York. Nel frattempo, quando leggete questo articolo, Carlo Muratori ha fatto ritorno nella sua casa vicino a Siracusa e nel suo aranceto, che funge da attività primaria per questo bravo cantautore. Per chi fosse interessato, il suo ultimo cd, "La padrona del Giardino" è acquistabile in Nord America, chi invece avesse voglia di fare una maggiore conoscenza di Carlo Muratori, basta andare al sito www.carlomuratori.it.


    (Pubblicato il 23 marzo  su Oggi7)