Tell us about your photo series, Nuoto da sola. Nuoto da sola is
Italian for ‘I swim alone’, and is a series of photos from the seaside
city of Rimini in Italy. Along 15 kilometres of sand, umbrellas and
beach lounges are sectioned off by colour. Travelling solo for the
first time was my final test to prove my own autonomy after a big
break-up, and these photos are a reflection on that experience.
I felt awkward doing some things by myself while travelling, but
always felt content swimming in the ocean alone.
What do you know about the town? It’s on the Adriatic coast, in the
Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and is a popular holiday
spot for Italians and other Europeans in summer. The film director
and writer Federico Fellini was born in Rimini!
How did you end up there? In 2011, I worked as a graphic designer
in Treviso, where I met my dear friend Ari. I hadn’t been back
to Italy, or even Europe, since then, so a visit to see Ari in her
hometown was a must. Ari always told me Rimini was daggy and
I wouldn’t want to go there, so I used most of the time to catch
up on rest and spend time with her. I discovered the beach on the
second-to-last night, and wish I’d had more time there (and more
than one roll of film!).
Tell us about the sights and sounds you encountered. There are
restaurants, schmick hotels and cheap souvenir shops close to
the beach, while nonnas sweeping their footpaths and hotels with
signage unchanged since the ’70s line the backstreets. The endless
rows of umbrellas on the beach are really something, especially
when viewed from the ferris wheel.
Why were the beaches so deserted? It was the end of June, which
is well into summer, but August is when Italians take their big
holiday break. I took the photos mostly around sunset at 9pm,
so people had headed home or back to their hotels to shower
and prepare for dinner. Rimini was a much more popular place for
tourists in the ’70s and ’80s, with families often renting houses
for the full three months of summer. Now, young people opt to
party at the trendier beaches further north.What are the beaches like the rest of the time? People start
arriving at 7am, and it’s busiest in the middle of the day. There are
people playing beach volleyball on designated courts, teenagers
playing football in the sand between umbrellas, sunbakers and
excited kids everywhere. There’s also a lineup for gelato from
a van and people eating Rimini’s signature piada – flatbread
served hot and typically with prosciutto, squacquerone (a fresh,
soft cheese) and rocket.Who was in charge of keeping the areas neat and tidy? The areas
with the designated umbrellas are all paid private beaches – you
pay 10 euros for an umbrella, 5 euros for a lounge, and more
if you want a spot closer to the water. The staff start work at
6.30am to open all the umbrellas, blow sand from the paths and
sift cigarettes from the beach. They sweep again in the evening
when everyone has left.What were you hoping to capture in these shots? Coming from a
small beach town in South Australia, the landscape of this beach
was so alien to me, so I wanted to capture the strangeness of it.
I hope viewers get the same sense of quietness, calm and content
that I had when walking through the beach at dusk. I didn’t plan
this series, but when I saw the empty beach, it was the perfect
summary of my experiences travelling alone.Where can we see more of your work? brihammond.com or
on Instagram at @brihammond.