Photographs by Emanuele Satolli

The exhibition and accompanying book That Thing That Never Vanished present, for the first time, the photographic work of Emanuele Satolli through an extensive selection spanning more than a decade of reportage from major conflict zones and humanitarian crises of our time.

In an age saturated with digital imagery – including propaganda, disinformation, and synthetic productions generated by artificial intelligence – Satolli’s work reaffirms the enduring role of photography as both witness and custodian of memory. His images bear testimony to lives scarred by war and landscapes devastated by it, distinguished by an extraordinary proximity to their subjects and by an ability to convey the intimacy of experiences lived under extreme conditions, while upholding a balance of documentary rigour and ethical responsibility.

Conceived as a continuous visual narrative that deconstructs linear reporting, the exhibition creates a visual space capable of evoking the fragmentation and suspension of time intrinsic to the experience of war. From the offensive of the Iraqi army in Mosul to the fall of Raqqa, from the Gaza protests to journeys through Afghanistan, and most recently the war in Ukraine, which Satolli has been documenting since 2022, the exhibition traces some of the most harrowing scenarios of the present day.

From October 10 to November 8, the exhibition That thing that never vanished will be display at Assab One in Milan.

Curated by Giulia Tornari and Angelo Castellucci texts by Giullia Tornari, James Marson and Emanuele Satolli; display design by studio amatoriale. The exhibition was realized by Zona and Gramma Studio with the support of Fondazione Cariplo and Fondazione Carifac, in collaboration with Laboratorio Lapsus, Assab One, and studioamatoriale.

Emanuele Satolli is a photojournalist who, over the last ten years, has devoted himself to photographically documenting conflicts and humanitarian crises. His reports have been published in leading Italian and international magazines and newspapers, with ongoing collaborations in particular with TIME Magazine and The Wall Street Journal.