Homecoming, in its most literal sense, means returning home. But returning to which home? And what is home, really? What does it mean to people today? In an era marked by globalization and migration, Homecoming inevitably turns its gaze toward how the concept of home is experienced and redefined across different cultural contexts, taking on symbolic, experiential, spiritual, and political connotations. The eponymous exhibition cycle was curated by Irene Alison together with Paolo Cagnacci for Rifugio Digitale in 2023–24 and was conceived as an exploration of the idea of “home” in the complexity of the contemporary world, balancing the tension between global interconnectedness and the need to reconnect with one’s roots.

From intimate, domestic narratives to glimpses of war-torn landscapes, the photographers Lara Shipley, Paolo Raeli, Kalpesh Lathigra, Robin Hinsch, Morganna Magee, Isa Rus, Claudine Doury weave together subjective storytelling and collective memory in new and unexpected ways—starting from personal experience to give voice to a universal condition.

On July 18, 2025, from 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM, the book Homecoming will be previewed during the opening of the 15th edition of Cortona On The Move, at Logge del Teatro Signorelli. The festival stands as a yearly reference point for photographers, curators, authors, and international critics, with events and exhibitions spread throughout the town. The curators of Homecoming, Irene Alison and Paolo Cagnacci, together with Laura Andreini, editorial director of Forma Edizioni, will present the new release to the Cortona audience, alongside the previous catalog published by Forma Edizioni for Rifugio Digitale, SuperNatural—a series of photographic exhibitions exploring various aspects of contemporary life in the dialogue between humanity, nature, and technology, ranging from research on the natural landscape to questions about a possible posthuman transformation.

Irene Alison was born in Naples in 1977. She is creative director of the photographic project and consulting studio, DER*LAB, and teaches at the European Design Institute (IED) in Rome, in addition to collaborating as a tutor and consultant with some of the most important Italian schools of photography (Isfci, Rufa, Scuola Romana di Fotografia in Rome and Fondazione Studio Marangoni in Florence, among others). As an editor, she has worked for the Manifesto and D, La Repubblica delle Donne. As a freelance journalist, she has produced, with other photographers, a number of reports published in Geo France, The Independent, l’Espresso, D, XL, Marie Claire and Riders. Her articles of photographic criticism have been published by newspapers like La Lettura, Corriere della Sera, Il Sole 24 ORE and Pagina99. She has published two essays of photographic research, My generation (Postcart, 2012) and iRevolution (Postcart, 2014) and, in 2022, the American publisher Yoffy Press printed “Holding Time”, a book written with the photographer Catherine Panebianco, for which Irene authored the texts. In 2022 Postcart has published her essay, Muse col Muso (Muses with Muzzles, imaginary animals in contemporary photography).

Paolo Cagnacci was born in Florence in 1971. He studies photography at the Studio Marangoni Foundation, where he currently teachers portrait photography and lighting techniques. He has also taught at the European Design Institute of Florence. His pictures have been published in magazines like: D la Repubblica, Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, La Stampa, Sette, SportWeek, L’Espresso, Pagina99, Specchio, Lei, Donna Moderna, Famiglia Cristiana, Corriere della Sera-La Lettura. He has produced photographic and video projects for the Region of Tuscany, the Festival of Creativity, the People’s Festival, Balkan Observatory, the Michelucci Foundation, Tempo Reale, Unicoop Firenze, the City of Florence, Telecom Foundation, Mibact, CNA. He has worked for companies like: Diesel, Patrizia Pepe, Paula Cademartori, Peuterey, Starbucks, Stefanel, Ottodame, Dmail, Rinascimento. He has worked for the Massimo Sestini Agency. His work is distributed by the Luz Photo Agency of Milano.