“Mani” (“Hands”) is an ongoing series of 8 ½ by 11-inch images in which Paola Ferrario photographs her hand holding a variety of items, both natural and fabricated. It is intended as a diary of sorts in which she traces her movements and thoughts through the things she observes. An Italian who has long lived outside her homeland, Ferrario carries with her a love of the quotidian that manifests itself in these objects. Her own work ethic is embodied in the idea of a hand that displays the symptoms of labor and discovery—a tribute to homo faber, man the maker.
