The ancient fortress of the Malatesta family in Montefiore in Italy is more than 600 years old and full of tales of mystery, madness and revenge. Wandering around the old rooms with whitewashed walls and imposing panoramic views it is difficult to imagine a series of love affairs and arguments taking place in the same bit of space that we now occupy. However, when I got to a room near the top of the castle, with a high arched ceiling and spot of sunlight tracking across the bare floor, I felt a strong feminine presence, and was intrigued to hear that it used to be the room in which Costanza used to live. From what I can gather, she was extremely wealthy and had had a string of lovers after her husband was killed in battle, only to be murdered herself by her very own uncle who had objected to her German boyfriend. Her ghost is supposed to be there, and I managed to terrify myself a lot by taking pictures with a flash and staring appalled at a series of photos with floating white circles in them… real evidence of ghosts or was it the lens?
When I finally got over my fear of Costanza, I made a series of photos of my feet leaping and dancing in the space. If you view them sequentially and rapidly, the feet look like they are flames that lick and lap at the floor. I’m not quite sure what the final piece will be: possibly an animation, possibly prints, (maybe even a mezzotint!) but will go back to take more photos in July. For more info please see http://www.opificiodellarosa.org/en/index-uk.html
Okay I’m not sure if Costanza had white knickers on from Marks and Spencers, but you get the idea…
