Mario Sorrenti: The Machine

Mario Sorrenti’s (born 1971) brother Davide passed away at the age of twenty on February 4, 1997, in New York City. His death was caused by complications of his illness and drug abuse. At the age of one, Davide had been diagnosed with Thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder. At the age of three, Davide began nightly treatments with a chelator drug administered with an infusion pump. The pump came to be known in his family as the machine.

The photographs for this book were taken on Thanksgiving night, in 1994. It was late, after everyone was asleep. That’s when Mario Sorrenti shot these four rolls of film.