Timeless Experience: An Architectural Journey
through Itria, Italy: Photographs by Rajesh Nair

AIA Headquarters Gallery
January 16 - April 2, 2004

An evocative series of brown-toned black and white photographs depicting the atmospheric buildings and landscapes of Italy’s Itria Vallery will be presented at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Headquarters Gallery from January 16 through April 2, 2004. The photographs were taken by the fine art photographer Rajesh Nair over a period of a year while living in the one of the towns overlooking the valley of Itria. Featuring approximately 45 images, the photographs capture a timeless world populated by dry-stone circular buildings known at Trulli; Masserie, walled farms built to withstand Saracen’s invasions, and lime-washed walled towns dating back 700 years.

The Itria Valley is located in Italy’s southern region of Apulia and has long attracted the attention of artists and historians with its intact vernacular buildings dating back to the 14th century. Nair’s photographs are a tribute to structures that seem to have transcended time. Employing a format of brown-toned black and white prints together with the deliberate elimination of people from any shot 
creates images that could have been taken yesterday or 100 years ago.

This timeless quality allows the viewer to become immersed in an image without distractions, so that the atmosphere and architectural details assume a haunting prominence.

Rajesh Nair is a fine art photographer originally from Mumbai (India).

With a degree in zoology and formal training in music, Nair discovered his passion and eye for photography over years of extensive traveling in Asia and Europe. He currently resides in Washington, DC and is represented by the Kathleen Ewing gallery.