Countess Elisabetta Giriodi di Monastero Panissera is an Italian photographer living in NYC. Her inaugural ‘Stuffed Animals Abound’ exhibition last May shared Elisabetta’s experience in New York using pictures of stuffed animals. 

‘Stuffed animals are a gift. They are companionship in the absence of companions, a materialization of adoration, a token for good behavior, a trophy for achievement. Stuffed animals accumulate, are misplaced, travel with us, or are left behind when their purpose has expired.

These objects have the power to produce identity, independence, attachment, detachment, and melancholy. They define our relations and allow us to practice the severance of those relations. We cling to them when the shadows on the walls creep in. We wake up and find them tossed on the bedroom floor” says Elisabetta.

To follow Giriodi is to scroll through a pointed-critique of the superficial and forgettable family-lover-selfie subjects she captures. A family of stuffed animals in front of the public library. A landmark shot of a tourist under a bridge in Central Park. A couple kissing in Bryant Park. These seemingly benign objects travel from Giriodi’s childhood home in Italy to New York City. The takeaway is an unforgettable-unsettling query that begs to answer what happens when human identity and personal relationships are too easily liked, bought, traded and replaced. 

Elisabetta’s upcoming Stuffed Animals Abound exhibition will take place in Milan, Rome and New York. For more information and pictures please visit the following web site: https://www.elisabettagiriodi.com/copy-of-architecture