«It had been like going on a sightseeing tour. I had visited all the editorial offices in Milan and nothing had happened at all; I had not sold a single picture. Was it imaginable that after six months of travel -India, Egypt, etc. – on my return, no Italian weekly would be interested in my material? For me it had been a drama that challenged a whole system of living, a choice, a way of understanding journalism. And then in Milan there had been that cold, distracted, “wait in the lounge, the editor-in-chief is busy” response that had mortified me.
I had remained with only 9000 lira, which is much less than nothing. What to do? The stack of pictures was there in front of me. Meaningless pictures, investment without construction, ideas without feedback? I was alone. Forced to question everything.
I went to the station to catch the first train back to Rome. While buying a book I noticed a German-language weekly newspaper. I bought the paper, quickly browsed through it, and within moments decided that my destination was no longer Rome but Zurich. I arrived in Switzerland without the money for the return trip.
That visit of mine to the editorial office of Schweizer Illustrierte took on the tone of a challenge. I was challenging whom? What? First myself, my fear I mean, the risk of having to sell a Leica in Zurich to return defeated to Rome. And then I was also challenging the Italian newspapers, which I judged provincial, snobbish, lacking in interest and taste».
Calogero Cascio