‘404 Not Found’, A Photographic Exploration Of A Dystopian Technological Future

Thematically, the series strikes a chord because it encapsulates one of the most important debates of our time: the anxiety surrounding how technology is changing humanity on a cultural, societal, and personal level. When we hypothesize a modern dystopia, we can often imagine a distorted reality where technology is the ruler; jeopardizing all the ways in which we operate autonomously. In fact this experience is already occurring, and Marianaccio’s photographs tap into the fear of such a phenomenon with an eerie exactness. “His photos sometimes radiate a cold and latent violence”, explains a statement on his website. “At times though, disconcerting beauty emerges.”

‘404 Not Found’ encapsulates this proclivity to display beauty within turbulence. The series is “a story in pictures, interested in scenarios that we perhaps consider negative but in the future will be [a] normality,” explains Marianaccio. “Technology becomes mirror and shield at the same time, it becomes the soul”. Paired compositions of cracked landscapes and buried cars are contrasted against silhouettes of satellites and shattered glass. It’s an apocalyptic vision where communities have crumbled, “as a consequence of a failed meeting on a human level.” As part of this proposed consequence, Marianaccio asks us, his audience, to take some responsibility in the hopes of preventing such a world: “In this sense, our blame on the future could be a hypocritical forgetfulness of the present”.