Spotlight on Corning® Advanced-Flow™ Reactors

FONTAINEBLEAU, FRANCE – While Corning® Advanced-Flow™ (AFR) technology is known for its process efficiencies, it’s now also being regarded for its beauty by world-renowned Italian artist and photographer Giovanni Ricci-Novara who recently photographed the reactors.

Giovanni’s work has been featured in art galleries, museums and international art fairs around the globe and when Corning presented the possibility of photographing the reactors, he was inspired by them and excited about the opportunity to work in a new market.

“Today in the chemical industry, researchers, engineers, chemists spend a lot of time in their plant or lab with their eyes constantly watching a piece of equipment that make them successful in their work,” he said. “I was inspired by Corning’s reactors not only because of their beauty but for the opportunity to remind these innovators that the work they’re doing is important and impactful – just like the images.”

Giovanni had to stimulate his creativity differently for this shoot than he would photographing a sculpture or archaeological site. “Every object is filled with beauty and the challenge I looked at when photographing Corning’s reactors was to find sensibility in an object that is normally considered equipment,” he said.

Giovanni shot the photos over the course of ten days in Corning’s Fontainebleau facility in France and worked hand in hand with Corning’s AFR team to ensure that he had a good understanding of the product.

“We really enjoyed working with Giovanni and he was extremely impressed with the beauty and innovation of Corning’s product portfolio,” said Alessandra Vizza, regional commercial manager, EMEA, Americas, Corning AFR Technology. “He was also really engaged with wanting to understand the technology to ensure that the photographs reflected not only their beauty but also their technical advantages.”

Giovanni often reminded the Corning team during the photo shot that, in his experience, the fields of art, science and technology aren’t as different as one may think.

“Curiosity is the main reason for research in every field of human knowledge,” he said. “They are all intellectual activities that often show us a world full of beauty.”

The AFR team was satisfied with Giovanni’s results and plans to utilize his work in their upcoming promotional materials.

“AFR is about changing people lives by providing a technology that makes chemical processing more efficient, scalable — all while reducing environmental impact, performance variability, and cost,” Alessandra said. “We hope that the beauty of the photos reminds our global customers that they’re contributing something meaningful to the world.”