The Sound Of Silence

This is the story of a man, a husband and a father.Giuseppe is fifty years old and recently discovered to have labyrinthitis, an inflammation of the inner ear area, the Labyrinth, the body that regulates our sense of balance.
Balance [from Lat. aequilibrium, comp. aequus of “equal” and pound “scale”] “resting state of a body characterized by cancellation of all forces by equal opposing forces”. So, stable position of the human body.Physiologically, to have a sense of balance corresponds to all the impressions that produce reflex movements that allow us to maintain or to change our position.
Balance therefore implies stability, rest, absence of tensions.

The sense of balance depends on three factors related to each other: the eyes, the skin and muscle sensitivity and the balance organ, precisely the labyrinth, located in the inner ear.
A maze inflamed fails to perceive the brain the body position and balance in space, causing a feeling of instability.

This disease may be reversible in a short time or arrive in a chronic form.Giuseppe is forced to live with it every day for several months, since he was diagnosed, labyrinthitis afflicts every moment of her daily. May not present any symptoms in a few days while others may result in continuous dizzy sensations, nausea and vomiting, temporary hearing losses, with partial deafness or hearing loss, or even tinnitus, sounds and ringing in the ears. These symptoms may in turn be due to panic attacks, anxiety, distorted perception of the outside world.In these conditions, the only way to riaquistare its stability is practicing the maneuvers of Epley.
For Giuseppe, the only one in the family can perform them is the wife.

After discovering the disease, Giuseppe has made available to me, making me express my vision I have of him, to talk to people about his illness and his life, but also of our relationship.
Giuseppe is my father.This project has been published on Whitness Journal 

 

Photography and text by Ilaria Ferrara. Edited by Laura Pezzenati​
LINK Whitness Journal #84