Close your Eyes is an ongoing photographic project about the concept of freedom in the European collective imagination.
Photographer Daniele Domenico Delaini photographed more than 500 people in eight European countries asking them to close their eyes and think of what Freedom represents for them. People told him what they were thinking of after he took the pictures and you can read their answers next to the images.

Why this approach?
“Before starting Close your Eyes, I had always conceived of photography as an extremely solitary experience, where I was the only one living the extraordinary moment of artistic creation. But this approach always left me feeling somewhat uneasy and uncomfortable. So I felt the need to change the rules of the game.
I realized how important it was to me that the subject too had the power to add something more than just his or her image to the picture. So, I decided to transform my approach to photography into an emotional exchange with the subject I was photographing. I had the idea of taking portraits of people with their eyes closed while they were thinking about something and to display their thoughts near the images. Then I needed a topic that was important enough for everybody and I opted for Freedom.”

Why freedom in Europe?
“While in the past Europe has been the battlefield for some of the most bloody wars in history, now it sets an example of Peace and Freedom. But can we define it as a real space of freedom or rather as a complicated melting pot of contrasts where the economy is the predominant aspect?
It all depends on what definition we give to freedom. So I began asking myself what freedom represents for people in Europe today. Is it something abstract or something concrete? Is it happiness? Love? Money? Having the possibility to choose? Furthermore, is freedom universal or is it strictly linked to a national culture? Does it depend on place, age, social status and so on?
In 2008, I started Close your Eyes. Since then, I have photographed more than 500 people in eight European countries and I want to continue the project throughout the entire European Union.”

Picture by picture, people’s answers change. What remains the same is the question: “What is freedom for you?”.