the pause

the pause is a long-term photographic inquiry into the idea of "qualia"—the ineffable “what it feels like” of being, whether human or otherwise. the project began to take shape during the global rupture of the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to evolve in the wake of the accelerating artificial intelligence revolution, a moment when the act of seeing—and questioning how we see—has become more critical than ever. in this shifting landscape, photography becomes less about documentation and more about attention: an invitation to slow down and inhabit perception itself.

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in 2025, excerpts from the pause were exhibited at the global photovogue festival 2025 in milan, where the festival’s theme, the tree of life, resonated deeply with the project’s evolving concerns. during the festival, i was invited by alessia glaviano to participate in a panel discussion titled the artful narratives, reflecting on the possibilities of storytelling through contemporary visual practices.

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since then, the project has continued to unfold new layers. drawing from a phenomenological understanding of life, it approaches organisms—including humans—not as isolated individuals but as beings defined by their inseparable, interconnected, and mutually influencing relationships with their environments. the pause therefore becomes a meditation on this continuum of existence, urging a renewed awareness of our entanglement with the living world.