Inedia non prodigiosa

Inedia non prodigiosa takes its title from a term in the history of the Church. “Inedia prodigiosa” described the supposed ability of certain medieval saints to live without food, a miracle recorded in the lives of mystics and venerated in relics across Italy. By declaring its subject “not prodigious”, the story turns away from the miracle and looks instead at the imagery that grew up around it.

Photographer Kamila Bigos works mostly in black and white, alternating between architecture and portraiture. Church façades and columns appear as faded, almost ghostly prints; a veiled face is framed in a round, cracked medallion like a devotional icon; a reliquary-style pendant hangs against a pale background. Flowers recur throughout, pressed, scattered and finally worn as a mask.

Eleonora Cavilli dresses model Courtney (Fashion Artwise) in pieces that echo religious dress without copying it: veils, sheer layers and embellished surfaces from Umberto Fennicchia, Ace of Pentacles and Michela Magnani, alongside archive pieces. Luna directed the art, and the shoot was supported by Samantha I Palazzo studio.

The result is a meditation on devotion, image-making and the female body as something to be looked at, venerated and preserved, told through the visual language of Italian sacred art.