It is said that the only constant in life is change.
That is true for cities as well. They never stop changing, for better or for worse.
In 2021 I captured Ephemeral, whose title turned out to be just perfect.
An unknown street artist made the painting of a woman’s face on an electrical cabinet in Via Torino, Milan. It’s been there for ages – pretty much for as long as I can remember.
Yesterday I discovered that it’s gone.
The electrical cabinet was replaced with a brand new one and only part of the woman’s chin survives on the concrete base.
Maybe it will be painted again – who knows?
What’s certain is that Ephemeral captures something unique and no longer visible. I have no idea if there are other pictures of that painting, but to me, this event serves as a reminder that photography, beyond any artistic goals, was invented to document and preserve the world. Let’s keep doing that.