Citta eterna by Renato Sarticchia

Acqua, Cielo, Terra by Massimo Briccoli

Lights and Shadows by Milko Marchetti

An exhibition with the name ITALY TASTE OF BEAUTY, displaying 300 pieces of selected artworks of 30 fine Italian photographers while showcasing the unique aesthetics of Italian people, has drawn attention from many photographers and common viewers during the 2017 Lishui Exhibition Festival on 15-19, November.

Claudio Brufola, Secretary-general of Italy Expo Photo, is the event organizer, a Diehard Fan of the Lishui Exhibition Festival. He has been to the city as early as 1999, during which the festival has started a new era, undertaking the fourth Chinese Photography Festival with an laurel of "home of Chinese photography" by the Chinese Photographers Association for the first time. Since then, Claudio Brufola has visited Lishui for many times, bringing over a hundred photographers from Italy to participate into the Lishui Photography Festival exhibition and other photo-taking activities and contributing to the long-term friendly cooperation between the Lishui Photography Festival and the Orvieto Photography Festival in Italy.

To Claudio Brufola, all the development and changes of Lishui in the past few years are in his eyes: the infrastructure construction level of the city is very high. I have seen a slogan in Shanghai - a city, making a better life, which is in line with the present Lishui. For the 2017 Lishui Exhibition Festival, some 1,050 minor exhibitions, convening photos from over 50 countries and regions in 15 separate exhibiting areas, have created the highest level in both amount and scale in history, for which Claudio Brufola exclaimed: I've never seen such a large scale of photography event, and we don't have the ability to hold such a large photo festival in a city. Only in Lishui, in China, in his opinion, can this happen accordingly.

Claudio Brufola, founder of EBlu, an institution of photos in Italy and once held a position in Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation, has been to a number of countries, however, he confessed: China is the only country that promotes photography in terms of policy. He said: I have been to Hunan, Henan, Shenzhen and other cities in China, and local governments all support photography very much, especial in fund. But in many other countries, the photography events are mostly sponsored by private sectors, rarely receiving support of government.

He found, during his tour in the festival, that some Chinese photographers prefer experimental photography, not the traditional. According to Claudio Brufola, from the cultural history of Italy and artworks of many famous artists in the Renaissance, many experimental arts at that time are not truly good art, but just confusion. Hence, compared with the tradition, experimental may not be the better choice.

It is also discovered by Claudio Brufola that the way of displaying the photos by Chinese and western photographers was quite different. He said, in Europe, photos are uploaded to facebook in a large number without screening, there is no definition between good and bad photos. Nobody tells you what is right or wrong, you can only identify with a certain amount of knowledge, technical basis and professional background. But in China, perhaps there is no website focusing on photos with much influence, so photographers will tell you about the good photo first, and all the exhibits are also selected photos, you don’t have to identify by yourself, which is an intriguing phenomenon.

The Expo Photo, where I work, is in a very old small town, an-hour drive from Rome. I have been to China very early, and introduced Chinese photographers to hold exhibition in that town. According to Claudio Brufola, photography is a bridge of culture, locals don’t under if you speak in Chinese, but much easy if you show them the photos. And he mentioned in particular that one of the most important contents is people-to-people bond in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, photography, an art crossing the barrier of language, just plays a better role in this area.