How often do you really look at what you see?

Halfway between a book and a magazine, “The City Is Ours” is a finite series of 6 self-published bookzines that invite you to explore your city, town, or street with more curious eyes. One detail at a time.

The way we walk and live in our cities has changed dramatically in the last 10–15 years.

In 2008 Facebook surpassed Myspace as the most-visited social media website.

With the introduction of Live Feed and the spread of smartphones, most of our attention has shifted from looking at our surroundings to looking at our screens.

Because most people’s attention is on what is happening on their screen, the city has become a place of unnoticed things and stories waiting to be discovered.

"Anything becomes interesting, if you look at it long enough.” — GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Every city has an endless source of visual stimuli: multiple layers of traces of people’s movements, activities and intentions, and accidental events, all waiting to be documented and creatively analyzed.

With a scientific-but-ironical approach, each issue of The City Is Ours analyzes a specific detail related to the streetscape through a photo essay: images combined with clear and simple language inspire the reader to observe the world as they have never seen it before.

Art is used as a tool: to help bring awareness to our surroundings.

When was the last time you took a bus or subway and looked out the window instead of looking at a screen?
Or the last time you walked without checking what’s on your phone?
The City Is Ours x Kone Foundation, 2023-2024

For contributions, proposals, and open calls check out:
www.thecityisours-bookzine.com

See more works by Lorenzo Servi:

What are you looking for?

How often do you really look at what you see?

Lorenzo “SerraGlia” Servi