The Iceberg, a new publication in the box set by the Italian photographer Georgio di Noto, brings together a selection of archive images and photographs from advertisements from sites specializing in the sale of narcotics on the darknet. Printed in invisible ink, the images can not be seen with the naked eye and require the use of an ultraviolet flashlight, included with the book. The Internet can be considered as an iceberg: the emerging tip is what we call the Web surfacique, the digital terrain that we know and on which we navigate by means of search engines, social networks, etc. The submerged part, about 90% of the iceberg, is what is known as the Deep Web: an encrypted and constantly evolving network, guaranteeing total anonymity, out of reach of traditional research instruments. This darknet is a lawless no man’s land, accessible only with the help of specific software. Intractable, it is the place of proliferation of illicit activities, and in particular of contraband. The photographs in this volume – published by the German editions Patrick Frey – from the websites of illicit products found on the deep Web, can only be seen under ultraviolet light – the same used by the drug squads to detect traces of drugs. Many of these photographs, often taken by the sellers themselves using small cameras or smartphones, seem both surreal and abstract because of the colorful and exotic aesthetics of the merchandise, on the one hand, and the poor quality of the photographs. Uploaded anonymously and designed to disappear automatically, these images are not traceable or visible on the traditional web; they lead a transient existence exclusively on the Dark Web. The 128-page book is now available on the online shop of Edition Patrick Frey.
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