A personal visual diary
on
the Art of Disease
by
Mauro Fiorese

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Intro

My name is Mauro Fiorese.
I was born 44 years ago under the Zodiac sign of Libra. And my ascendent was
not in Cancer.
But I do have one now.
For the last 25 years I have been using photography as a main reason of my Life. By teaching, writing, exhibiting, buying and, most of the time, producing photographs. In order to find out and to remember how much I didn’t know about Life. And to make every little moment inspiring to me and to all those who
will be reached by my photographs.

I thought 2013 has already been a tough year after my motorcycle accident. On May 22nd, 2013 a Plumber who was driving his van probably back to his working place or
to a client’s location or to Hell, cut my way and ran away, living me on the ground with my right arm broken in four parts and a cranial trauma.

My wonderful daughter, Leda, was born few months earlier and it was pretty frustrating not being able to follow her growing process on every day life.

But the real Story starts this Summer
on July 11, 2014 just few days before I was ready to get a new surgery on my hand and elbow in order to fix what was left from the accident and to get a better functionality for a better Life quality and for my Art.

After an intense three-days shooting
in the South of Italy I returned to Verona, where I’m based, with a
strong chest pain. So one night I decided, or someone else probably pushed me, to go to the local E. R.
And that’s when this whole adventure started.

Chapter 1
Illumination

–

Diagnosis

After several tests, such as Tac and M.R.I. I was diagnosed with a Lung Cancer, who turned out to be not really a nice guy. Actually a guy with a pretty bad behavior and also a fast runner.

In order to know more about this guy and after a certain amount of pretty invasive tests, a biopsy was necessary. So on August 8 I went back to be hospitalized for a week.
Not that I was really missing an hospital room though…

Luigi was my roommate, he had a similar Lung cancer than mine but he was a heavy smoker. I was just a photographer but also a heavy darkroom printer for several years.
Advise: just in case you still love traditional Black and White printing or and/or toning, please check “sodium hyposolphite” and “acetic acid” effects on our lungs.

Luigi was always alone. He had only a sister but she was also sick and could not come to visit him.
So on his Birthday I asked my mother Rosa, who is an amazing Chef, to prepare a cake for him.
He cried, but that’s maybe because he was expecting a Sacher Torte, not an Apple Pie.

Chapter 2
Production

–

Surgery

The next day I was all dressed up for the Surgery – and basically ready for or open to anything at that moment that could speak finally clearly to me, since my life was not really in MY hands anymore. But, at least, I had the right dress code…

A 30″ long tube was inside my lung for four days in order to poor out the liquid that previously came out from the Pleura.

So… on that day I decided
to start smoking
☁️¸
… just kiddin’

My friends came to visit me in the Hospital, even though it was in the middle of the Summer. Than I finally got out and I was able to meet more of them, my family and my sweet daughter Leda.

Mauro Fiorese all rights reserved
September 2014.

to be continued…