The Hylonicum Project

Hylonicum is my way of seeing matter and form in cities, rituals, people, and light. It is a philosophical experiment in capturing what cannot be said, where light reveals what binds beings and thoughts. I photograph on random days and in fortuitous instants, often candidly and always with respect. If you appear in an image and would prefer it removed, please let me know. These fragments of life and lives are sometimes deeply personal, sometimes simple testaments to past experiences.

You can see my all my photos on my dedicated Flickr page.

Series and Sequences

These photographic series grow out of lived time. They are formed through movement, pauses, and returns, as places slowly become familiar and begin to speak back. What matters here is not the isolated image, but the sequence as a space where seeing, memory, and experience gather.

Everyday encounters, observed in passing.
Places and structures stripped to tone and form.
Traces of devotion, ritual, and sacred space.
Landscapes shaped by fire and lava.
Small towns, public spaces, daily rhythms.
Messina, no longer passing through.
Street life and movement in the city.
Stillness, pauses, and sacred spaces.
Nature and seasonal detail within the city.
Monuments, statues, and architectural memory.
Morning light and riverside reflections.
Street scenes and everyday narratives.
Coastal spaces and human scale.
Cities and towns, revisited over time.
Urban spaces momentarily without crowds.
Close views of cycling as ordeal.
Walking the Wall, far from the crowds.
Where teaching, memory, and form persist.
Classical gardens and cultivated landscapes.
Streets, markets, and daily movement.
Water as surface, depth, and field.
Urban scenes under northern light.
Natural forms under changing light.
City life, movement, and intervals.

©️Nicola Polloni | Latest update: January 2026.