Photographer in Residence 2020-2021

Cittàgazze Collection
by Rowan Humphreys

Cittàgazze is a mercantile city in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series of novels. Despite looking like a prosperous settlement, Cittàgazze is nearly entirely absent of inhabitants, save only a few abandoned youths. Most of the city’s adults have disappeared into hiding – the sole remaining adult is forced to isolate himself alone in a tower, hiding from an invisible peril.

The forgotten youths are left to fend for themselves – alone in this beautiful but now quiet city.

And if the parallels aren’t obvious enough, the currency of Cittàgazze happens to be the Corona.

The disparate photos in my Cittàgazze collection are linked by one theme – they are all absent of people. This reflects the loneliness that many students have felt during the pandemic as they struggle to find their place in an increasingly isolating world.