Portraits Of Azerbaijan

August Sander thought that pure photography could capture the truth about an age and its people.
Bearing this idea in mind, armed only of a camera and his believe that photography was the greatest tool ever given to mankind to record history, he ventured into the World and took more than 40.000 pictures.
Sander’s vast legacy shows the poignancy of a whole era… and all through portraits.
Almost a century has past, and the great truth that Sander wanted to capture in the eyes of the sitters is still out there to be recorded.
Every face, every glance.
Every single person is the most complex fold of heritage and experience, holding a crystal clear truth about this day and age.
In vices and virtues, in habits and dreams, even in the way we love. In every aspect of ourselves, our World speaks through us.
Yet, in each one of us, history will articulate in a unique way.
This is the reason why the camera can never stop looking.
So, we explored a country that is little known, but brings together all the energies of our times. We spent 2 months inside thi beautiful land. A land where the old encounters the new, the East meets the West, and multiculturalism is an ancient tradition.
We went and gazed into the Azerbaijani people to portray the spirit of today.
But we found much more. Instead of history, we found stories.
The people that crossed our paths showed us what it means to be whole hearted, and showed us that people come before anything else, that our lives count only as much as what we do for others, and that we should not be scared of being who we are, because it’s the only way we can be, and so the only way we can fully, completely love.
These images pay tribute to all of those people, and the land that nurtured them, the Land Of Fire.
Portraits Of Azerbaijan shows over 70 videos and photographic portraits of men and women who represent a cross-section of the country
This work is a part of the Azerbaijan Pavillion at the 2015 Milano Expo.
Tech equipment / We shot with two Red Epic Dragon
Locations / Baku and its neighborhood
Edit and grading on Premiere Pro CC
Credits /
Directors / Bellone&Consonni
Cinematographer / Bellone&Consonni
Production Company / Simmetrico and Tapelessfilm