I’m at almost 3000 meters of altitude on the crests of Caré Alto, all around me it is silence. Stefano, a mountaineer friend of mine, meditates while I shoot the photos at those abandoned cannons. In front of us we see the majesty of the mountains and of the glaciers of the Adamello. Behind us there are signs of bombings between shards, fragments of life and bones.
During the recent years I’ve been shooting photos all over the Alps and then across the Carpathian Mountains. There were only two missions to be concluded, the Stelvio and the Adamello ones. Both missions ended in a final rush. Now I’m up here with my Nikon and with my European flag. I meditate on that cruel past, at how far I have gone through these years, and at how I changed myself while modeling this project.
We begin to descend for that tough path that knows nothing but slope, embedded in a remote and wild valley. So many young people fell on those rocks. While descending I think at that load of heavy and tragic emotions that were lived right there 100 years ago. I think of that Austrian Lieutenant, Felix Hecht, who still lies in those glaciers. I recall his tormented words about war that he left us.
As we step down in the silence of the evening, I bring with me a burden of thoughts that mingle with a growing sense of satisfaction for the mission accomplished.
Here they fought! Will still have a long way to do for the memory of those stories and places, but for me it is time to start looking further, to new projects and other missions.
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