Extremely goal-oriented, I manage to untangle myself in the most difficult situations. Very adaptable, easy-going, I love to interact with people, hence my job as a Teacher and as a Photographer. I am attracted to what is challenging, and love to share interests and ideas. I also have a penchant for sociology and philosophy, and an overall need of seeing the world from different perspectives. I was born in Zuerich (CH) and grew up there until I was 13 years old, then I moved to Italy. I have lived in different countries and Continents for long periods of time. Traveling is my home. I grew up in a literary environment, so I inherited a devotion to books, literature and culture in general. I am extremely curious, and I have often taken my backpack and left in order to visit other countries and other cultures. My last trips were to Palestine, Jordan and the Balkans. I have always thought that if we have eyes, we are sort of "compelled to see". Dynamic, extrovert, I manage to finish various project at the same time: when I feel passionate about something, it is very hard for me to stop - obstacles are just a mere temporarily interference between myself and my goal. Very sympathetic, I love to be constantly on the move: whether it is for an assignment, a stable job, an inquiry or a project. Traveling can be also a very stimulating state of mind.
2009 - FULBRIGHT FELLOWSHIP, 2007 - MAE-CRUI FELLOWSHIP, 2000 - ERASMUS SCHOLARSHIP
This is a sort of exercise, in order t be able to recognize different elements - in this case I have chosen the alphabet - that surrounds us everyday. Once you start, you cannot stop: your mind and your eye are set to detect a specific form [it could have been anything else - something geometrical regarding the city; pieces of architecture....] - but it helps a lot both to set a goal that you want to achieve, as well as to exercise your eye and vision. From all this, as once people used to write real letters, I called this project "Letters from Home", because all of the 22 letters belong to a part of my own house.
This project is called "Urban Separations". I have chosen to portray it through the streetcar, which seems to have written in his DNA a double character of union and separation. In fact, it both connects and divides past and future: rattling horse-drawn at the beginning of '900, silent-eco-futuristic nowadays. It connects distant points of the urban layout, dividing it with its double rails: cutting the city in two parts, objecting to his double, equal and opposite. It separates its passengers from the rest of the world, often herding them into a dummy and coercive union. It connects the suburbs and suburban areas with the lively, rich hustle and bustle: joining and separating social and individual different, sometimes irreconcilable realities. In this switching, I intentionally wanted to accentuate the separation, that here becomes even psychological through a sort of mirror-game, where the person sitting inside is anticipated in his/her immediate future actions.
This project of mine is called "They all Have a Name". Living and traveling a lot around the world, I have had the chance to capture snapshots or portraits of tons of homeless people. They all belong to the Western world: from the United States to Europe, from NYC to Naples. I have collected so many stories about their lives: for some of them there was no choice but living on the streets, for other though, it was a decision. What I mostly care about, is to show them as human beings with their very own history: it's not a way to exploit their condition - that's far from my intent. There is Caileen, there is Richard, there is Rosa, there is Jasmine: for one reason or another, they do not live under a roof anymore. They maintain their dignity, their passions, their humanity in every possible way. And they all - as we do - have a name.
