Utopia
Dianne Whyte

Matera is a symbol of rebirth, rising from extreme and prolonged difficulties. For decades referred to as the shame of Italy, it rose to become a jewel, nominated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1993 and European Capital of Culture in 2019. Over the centuries it has changed shape over and over again, in an ongoing dialogue between rock and architecture. Carlo Levi in his book ‘Christ stopped at Eboli’ singles out the Sassi of Matera for its tragic beauty and hallucinogenic aura of decay, “like a school boy’s idea of Dante’s Inferno”. The place today is riddled with tunnels and caves, what you see on the surface is only 30 percent, the other 70 percent lies hidden beneath. The surrounding landscape, characterised by soft limestone rock, played an essential role in the shapes of gorges, caves and cliffs. The construction technique was described as ‘Architecture in Negative’, not actually building but removing matter from the rock in order to obtain architectural structures. The town was evacuated in 1952 and all its inhabitants were rehoused. It was left desolate until the early 1980s. It presses one to examine current issues of social housing, unfinished public works, suburbs, and how we may live within a space without recognition of its potential. ¹

Dianne Whyte is a photographer living in Dublin.  In her practice she is interested in space and how it functions, particularly in how the hidden power structures are concealed from direct view. Usually the images she makes are still, silent and encourage contemplation. ²

TLP Editions are an ongoing collection of contemporary photographic projects in the form of accessible and inexpensive publications by PhotoIreland. These A5 sized booklets present a standard format throughout the series, with 36 pages each, a cover with a text block of under 140 words that introduces the project, and the title and the artist name only available on the contra cover. The project creates a node of opportunities as it allows photographers to enter the publishing arena, while facilitating access to contemporary artistic practices to the general public. ³

Founded in 2009, PhotoIreland was conceived as an organisation to stimulate a dialogue around photography in Ireland by developing a varied array of initiatives and events with a strong participative approach.
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