Behind Books.

“Behind Books” is an ongoing project, that wants to show the stories hidden in books.
In some of the places where I’ve been, I found second hands books in the corners of the streets, in parks, in the countryside, and in bookcrossing points. I started to document with images the books that I found and the places where I found those. The aim of the project is to represent which were the paths that the book took since its release, to create little windows over the stories of the people who lived the book, how it touched those people, how it can change through time, and by the different interactions and how this can have a particular value in the eyes whose found it. Besides the stories written in it, the book has a being and stories to tell.
I want to give also physical importance to the book, to its worn pages, to the mud spots, to the dust that overlay the cover.
I try to give a new life to some of the books, that are in the worst shapes and impossible to be read; I wash those, I put some to dry, pages by pages, and create origami from it. I manipulate others, when wet and let those dry without separating the pages, creating new shapes.
I didn’t choose the books according to their author, title, or plot, but only as a casually found object. 

ITA:
“Dietro i libri” è un progetto in corso, che vuole mostrare le storie nascoste nei libri.
In alcuni posti dove sono stata, ho trovato dei libri di seconda mano agli angoli delle strade, nei parchi, in campagna e in postazione di raccolta libri. Ho iniziato a documentare con immagini i libri che ho trovato e i luoghi in cui li ho trovati. Lo scopo del progetto è quello di rappresentare quali sono state le strade che il libro ha preso da quando è stato pubblicato, per creare una piccola finestra sulle storie delle persone che hanno vissuto il libro, come ha toccato quelle persone, come può cambiare attraverso il tempo e dalle diverse interazioni e come questo possa avere un valore particolare agli occhi di chi lo ha trovato. Oltre alle storie scritte in esso, il libro ha un essere e storie da raccontare.Voglio dare anche importanza fisica al libro, alle pagine usurate, alle macchie di muffa, alla polvere che ricopre la copertina.
Cerco di dare una nuova vita ad alcuni libri, che sono nelle peggiori condizioni e impossibili da leggere; li lavo, li metto ad asciutgare pagine per pagine e ne ricavo origami. Ne manipolo altri, quando sono bagnati e li faccio asciugare senza separare le pagine, creando nuove forme.
Non ho scelto i libri in base al loro autore, titolo o trama, ma solo come oggetto ritrovato casualmente.

After had climbed the 374 steps of the Montagne de Bueren in Liege, I found this book and the amazing view of the city.

London.

1.I found this book in Hampstead Heath Park in London, like shown in the first image.
In the guard sheet of the book, it’s applied a paper from the North London Collegiate School’s library, which shows a list of the ones who borrowed it from 1970 to 1975.
The pages are full of notes written by pen, torn pages, and photocopied pages added with a clip like shown in this particular picture.

"The little prince" has been left outside a house, in London in the Willesden area, with other books and objects.

3.I found this book with the previous one, in London. It doesn't present any kind of information about its story.

4.In Acton, London, at the underground station there was this book in a bookcase full of books and comics, a little bookcrossing point.

Sardinia.

I came across Memories of a Geisha in a book crossing point in a museum in Mogoro during a hot summer day, it was left there by the Mogoro’s library. Besides the book, you can see the image of Mogoro’s church.

The book’s been found in the countryside in San Sperate, which is a little village in the south of Sardinia. In the photograph, you can see a sunset in the countryside.
The book appeared exactly as you see it in this picture, grown bigger and bent over by the rain, covered by dust. It was near a bunch of toys trashed in the soil. The only details about its story were the written name of Camilla and Sergio on the guard sheet.

7.I discovered this book in a little bookcrossing point in Villanova, which is one of the most characteristic neighborhoods of Cagliari.

I found also this book in San Sperate’s countryside. It was in a really bad shape, so I decided to wash it and I folded the pages before putting it to dry. In the image, you can see the final result of the dried book next to a prickly pear plant, which’s really common in the Mediterranean countryside.

This is another one that I found in the countryside of San Sperate.

A children's book, that I also found in the countryside.

Mariya is a friend that was doing the Erasmus in Cagliari. One day we were walking in the little streets of Villanova, in Cagliari and she showed me a cross booking point in a house, where she left this book. She went back to Sofia and I moved to London. After two years I came back to Cagliari and the book was still there.

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