A Luscious Reveal of Michele Iacobini’s Photography at LUCA

At LUCA, a Michelin-starred Italian restaurant in Clerkenwell, a debut exhibition by Michele Iacobini captures the heat and stillness of a Sicilian summer season.

Earlier in July, LUCA — Clerkenwell’s Michelin-starred Modern Italian — opened its doorways to its debut artwork exhibition. Those who keep and people who go away, a physique of labor by rising Italian photographer Michele Iacobini, attracts an unhurried bridge between the restaurant’s refined hospitality and the quiet drama of a Sicilian summer season. It looks like a pure pairing — like LUCA’s elegant dishes and Michele’s cinematic eye have been made to return collectively on the similar desk.

Michele’s pictures transport you to Sicily in mid-August, the place Ferragosto units the island into a mild, timeless rhythm: Palermo’s streets pause beneath the noon warmth, whereas the shoreline sparkles with households, meals, and celebration. Arancini and handmade pasta are served with the identical quiet confidence that defines LUCA’s kitchen—every chew a mirrored image of the very landscapes Michele brings to life.

Shot on medium-format 6×7 movie, Michele’s work has a painter’s persistence. There isn’t any rush, no instantaneous gratification — solely the satisfaction of a second caught at its peak. His colors are vivid but touched by nostalgia, steeped in a heat that feels each fleeting and enduring, like recollections you half-remember however by no means misplaced.

This exhibition is greater than images on restaurant partitions — it’s LUCA opening one other channel for storytelling. Each framed print, produced in editions of three, looks like a souvenir from an Italian summer season as soon as lived or but to return. And simply as LUCA’s menu marries Italian roots with British seasonality, Michele’s pictures maintain a stability between intimacy and openness, drawing you shut earlier than letting your thoughts wander past the body.

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“Michele is one of our favourite photographers,” says Creative Director Johnny Smith. “He captures moments that are heartfelt and unrehearsed.” The sentiment holds — his work is human in its element and beneficiant in its gaze. LUCA has already hinted that this gained’t be their final exhibition, signalling the beginning of a convention the place meals and artwork sit comfortably on the similar desk.

Those who keep and people who go away runs at LUCA, Clerkenwell, from Monday 14th July to Saturday sixth September. Prints can be found to buy on-line and on-site.

©2025 Michele Iacobini

Joanna is a contributing author exploring modern artwork and the intersection of creativity, tradition, and society.