Mélaina Cholé, from Ancient Greek "melas" (black), and "kholé" (bile), is a photographic exploration of humoral theory conceived by Hippocrates. This theory explained physical and psychological health or illness in terms of the state of balance or imbalance of various bodily fluids. According to Hippocrates (5th century bce), health was a function of the proper balance of four humors: blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm. Volk, in particular, focuses on black bile, described as a cold and dry fluid, generated by the archetype of the earth.
Cristiano Volk is an Italian photographer who lives and works in a small town called Staranzano in northeastern Italy. After a short period of study at the Spazio Labo’ in Bologna, he worked with artists such as Massimo Mastrorillo at the D.O.O.R. Academy and Federico Clavarino. In April 2019 his first book Sinking Stone was published by Witty Books and, at the end of the same year, it was selected by the American Suburb X magazine among the best photographic books of 2019. The following year his second book Me?laina Cholé was published by the American publishing house Yoffy Press.
