AMERICA!
Between the end of last October and the beginning of November, after many years of absence, I returned to the United States. In particular, there were three states that my friend and colleague and I would visit in our road trip itinerary: Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Three Southern states where slavery was deeply rooted and where it was finally eradicated. But it was also a territory strongly characterized by water, both the salty waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the fresh waters of numerous rivers, foremost among them the mighty Mississippi, the third-longest river in the world.
It was a classic road trip, exploring small towns, sometimes historically significant, but outside the typical tourist routes. The period coincided with the peak of Halloween, that October 31st, which is celebrated in the USA perhaps even more than Christmas, making a daring comparison with our country. It’s a holiday cherished by Americans, primarily for children, but taken even more seriously by adults. We saw cars and houses decorated as we are accustomed to seeing only in movies, and a bustling of adults and children on the evening of the 31st that felt like being on the Champs-Élysées.
We explored rivers and swamps, the classic marshes teeming with animals, from herons to alligators, from osprey to the bald eagle, the symbol of the United States – the classic eagle with a white head and neck, like a hood.
The following photos are just a small taste of the “American” journey. The video, on the other hand, was shot at dawn on Lake Martin in St. Martin Parish, which is a nature reserve and one of the swamps of Louisiana.
