This research came from a personal affection and fascination with mountains. In an attempt to get to know them better, I wanted to meet and learn from their people; people that live in and with the mountains. During my residency in Biella, Piemonte, Italy, I stayed multiple times with a family of shepherds of cows in the Alps in the valley of the river Sessera who have lived there for generations, keeping their traditions alive as one of the few remaining.
- shown here are photographs, the film is in the making-process -
During my visits I filmed, photographed and interviewed them; we had many conversations about their life, customs and their relation to their environment; the mountains. Some of the notions and answers that stuck with me the most were around their dependence on the land, how they have seen the land and infrastructure change over generations, and how current changes in the environment, society and governmental restrictions are putting them in difficult situations from which doubt arises if they can continue to sustain themselves. But what stood out to me the most was their close relation to their animals and their care and attention that they devote to them, to illustrate; every cow has a name, and the shepherds know them, all 190 of them.
