stupore (stu.pò.re) s.m. (from the Latin stupor -oris, derivate from stupere, “astonish”) 1. Sense of great wonder, incredulity, disorientation caused by something unexpected. 2 archaic. Stupefaction. Numbness 3.In medicine, cessation of voluntary mobility, associated with stupefaction of mental processes on detachment from external reality
amaze.ment (1595) as.ton.ish.ment (1586) (from ex + tonare, stronger than thunder)
asombro (from the verb asombrar or a-sombra, casting a shadow greater than another)
étonnement (1676, estonement 13th century) (from Descartes, astonishment is an excess of admiration that can never be anything but wonder) (from the verb étonner originating from the Latin extonare)
THE AMAZEMENT OF A DREAM AND FINALLY ACCOMPLISHED UNDERTAKING
The interpretation through the photographs of Giancarlo Maiocchi
It seems that nothing can impress us any longer: life, cities, distant journeys, the people we meet, the many, many images that enter our eyes at every moment going straight up to our brain.
We are so intoxicated with real and virtual images that everything seems to flow over us without leaving anything.
Yet it is sufficient to return to the origin of words to rediscover the emotion that generated them: étonnement from ex-tonare a sensation stronger than thunder; asombro from a-sombra, when a great shadow covers a smaller one. The astonishment of ancient man who found his comparisons and images in nature, to form to something greater than himself, to the point of crushing him against a wall leaving him feeling so mute and small.
The astonishment of man before a huge mountain that suddenly appears after hours of travel; the astonishment of the instinctive gesture of love from one’s own son; the astonishment of what you suddenly find quickly turning a corner while walking in an anonymous, unknown city; the astonishment of an emotion that suddenly surges from the depths invading body and spirit, the astonishment of someone who understands that they cannot make it; the astonishment of a long-dreamed enterprise finally achieved.
A lightning moment that conquers the spirit and the eye, immediately checkmating the prejudice and cynicism that grips the deepest emotions, freeing unimaginable energy and potential.
Astonishment brings you back to childhood for a moment, but hold that emotion for a single moment it is then filtered by the conscious taste of the individual with a history and experience. It is like remembering a fragrance or finding the taste again of a much loved flavor.
Erano quindici giorni
che mi muovevo
in mezzo a persone
segni e luoghi sconosciuti.
Persino i segnali stradali
usavano codici indecifrabili
quando arrivai alla stazione e vidi
una infilata di seggiole colorate
di Charles Eames.
proprio la in mezzo al mio nulla.
Mi prese una emozione fortissima
come se avessi incontrato un familiare– ANNA BARBARA –