Joao Retorta explores the connection between people and possessions in his quietly devastating visual for the American composer/performer Stephan Moccio.

The video for Moccio's solo piano composition Halston is set in a Lost Property Office, where a solitary officer on the nightshift diligently records newly arrived belongings - photos, books, wallets, spectacles, passports, toys, and more - archiving and photographing each item. The viewer is invited to reflect upon the people who have lost these treasured possessions - who are represented in the film as anxious voices enquiring after lost items on the office answering machine.

I was interested in the question of what the objects we leave behind say about ourselves.

Retorta and his director of photography Fraser Rigg create a cinematic atmosphere in this setting with subdued and subtle lighting, complimenting the art direction by Louis Simonon, and allowing the plaintive refrain of Moccio's Halston to flourish as an emotional soundtrack to the human stories that accompany each object. And the understated performance by Linda Edmonds as the lost property officer provides a focus for the sense of loss and loneliness evoked by the music.

"I was interested in exploring the question of ‘what do the objects we leave behind tell us about ourselves?’," says Joao Retorta. "This setting works as a vehicle for us to look at these items and question their previous lives and owners, and how they came to be lost. I wanted them to work as small windows for something bigger. Something that is down to the viewer to fabricate."

This is a real departure from much of Retorta's previous work in music videos. But the contained nature of the idea and the setting allows some magic to take place once the viewer is drawn in. Most importantly, it allows the cinematic emotion of Moccio's music to flourish.

"At its core, the video is about human experience," Retorta continues. "I wanted to create something that subtly explores life in the city by looking at the objects that its people left behind. Hopefully I achieved it to some degree.