Taste of Salt: Liam Cushing Solo Photography Exhibition at The Cardinal Gallery

 “Sapore di sale, sapore di mare”

(Taste of salt, taste of sea) sings Gino Paoli in his classic ode to summer love at the most iconic of Italian locations, the seaside. What began for Liam Cushing as an exploration of Italian life during this idyllic annual period quickly changed in 2020 as Italy (and the world) was plunged into the Covid pandemic. In the early days of winter, Italians found themselves at the epicenter of a spiralling crisis. The taste of sea seemed furthest from anyone’s mind.

As the world became reluctant to visit Italy, Cushing travelled across six regions of the country during the pandemic while Italians grappled with a summer situation unlike any before. What he discovered was an unexpected respite from il virus that Italians were determined to enjoy life. Adding to the unusual nature of the summer season, a country known for its tourism was suddenly without tourists. Piazza San Marco at midday now empty of swarming crowds. Cinque Terre beaches populated by carefully sectioned and spaced families. Italians were able to re-experience their country in a way not possible for decades.

Cushing has captured on film both the resilience and spirit of the Italian people, and a quiet stillness. A collective exhale in the eye of the storm. In the midst of a pandemic and lock downs, the summer period emerged as a collective pause. The photos capture an irrepressible spirit, a bright light, and Italian life undeterred. A mask pulled down to delight in a gelato, a migrant taking shade with a Roma woman, a bocce game paused for an aperitivo break. Perhaps bittersweet, perhaps a taste of salt lingering on the tongue, but a moment of joy in a dark time.

Liam Cushing is a Canadian-Spanish photographer and filmmaker and son of the late artist Lupe Rodriguez. His photography has been published by Taschen, Vogue, AnOther Magazine, Dazed, and NME. His art film work has been shortlisted in the Berlin Fashion Film Festival, Berlin Commercial Film Festival, Milano Fashion Film Festival, 1.4 Film Festival and featured by Kodak. Liam’s clients have included Dazed, Hugo Boss, Jimmy Choo, Mango, MSGM, Nike, Off-White, Sandro-Paris, Tod’s and Valentino.