A non Fairy, Tale. by photographer Lorenzo Levi is a project rooted in the Aosta Valley, building a narrative suspended between folklore, documentary, and imagination. Curated by SEMI and hosted in the underground spaces of ExDynamo, the exhibition moves away from the tourist representation of the mountains to instead explore the contradictions, social tensions, and sense of isolation that run through the Alpine territory.
from left: Italy, 2025, Valgrisenche. Limestone stalactites inside an abandoned water monitoring facility | Italy, 2025, Pont Saint Martin. Every year during Carnival, the village of Pont Saint Martin commemorates the myths of the nymph, the devil, and Saint Martin. According to the legend, the Roman bridge built two thousand years ago and now a symbol of the town was constructed by the devil, who was later tricked by Saint Martin. At the end of Carnival, the devil is burned.
Drawing inspiration from the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, Levi creates a sort of contemporary fable where the protagonists are not fantastical creatures, but the real inhabitants of the region. Villages, mountains, and local festivals become active elements within the narrative, while myths and legends are reinterpreted through images that constantly oscillate between reality and fiction. The result is a photographic series that transforms the Aosta Valley into an ambiguous and almost dystopian landscape, far removed from the romantic and reassuring imagery traditionally associated with the Alps.
Between artificial architectures, eccentric figures, and everyday scenes charged with narrative tension, “A non Fairy, Tale.” reflects on the transformation of the territory and the identity of those who inhabit it today. Levi’s work never seeks neutral documentation: every image seems to belong to a parallel universe where folklore and contemporaneity coexist in a fragile balance. It is precisely this ambiguity that gives the project its strength, turning the mountain landscape into a mental space before a geographical one.
The decision to stage the exhibition inside the tunnels of Bologna’s Velostazione further amplifies this suspended atmosphere. The underground setting dialogues with the cinematic nature of the project, accompanying visitors into a dimension that seems to exist somewhere between collective memory and visual invention. The exhibition includes printed photographs and a slideshow, maintaining an essential and independent approach that reflects the fully self-funded nature of the project.
After studying photography at the Speos Photographic Institute in Paris and working as an assistant to Alex Majoli, Levi has developed a practice that moves between documentary photography and constructed imagery. A non Fairy, Tale. perfectly synthesizes this approach, using the language of reportage to tell something that belongs more to myth than to chronicle.
from left: Italy, 2025, Valsavarenche. An Alpini member after a gathering. Traditions in the Aosta Valley play a fundamental role in the culture of the region. Every small village speaks its own variation of “patois” (dialect) and forms its own close-knit community. Integration into these small communities is extremely difficult, and conservatism dominates the region. | Italy, 2025, Pont Saint Martin. A portrait of Gero, one of the village’s best-known characters. Gero also represents one of the most widespread social issues in the mountain communities of the Aosta Valley: alcoholism. Between bars, solitude, and small Alpine villages, alcohol abuse continues to shape the daily life of many local communities.
