January 2015, exactly five years after the rebellion of african farmhands in Rosarno, Calabria, Italy. In the tent camp of San Fernando, which was supposed to be temporary, are living between 800 and 1000 people; in a nearby disused factory and without any services are sleeping about 300 workers more. Still others in some abandoned houses in the countryside, where the owners allow. They harvest mandarins, 1 euro per crate for about 20 crates a day, but there's no work everyday. The market prices throttle producers, the mafia ('ndrangheta) gain, it follows irregular work, illegal hiring, exploitation. Without them, the mandarins would remain on the trees. Everyone knows the situation. The Municipality of San Ferdinando provide electricity (they have finally started work on upgrading the wiring because it works normally only a few hours a day) and recently signed an agreement with Caritas, that stay daily at the camp to provide assistance (medical, legal, some food, covers, etc.). Often people get sick, it's cold and life conditions are very bad. In May 2015 is preview to dismantle the camp but there isn't today a real alternative project. In this reportage you don't see many migrants faces. It's a choice, because they are living as fleeting shadows.

Mentally disabled people during the crisis time © Marida Augusto-Max Hirzel/Haytham, work in progress since between January 2012, in province of Biella, northern Italy. “Coup de coeur” at ANI-Visa Awards 2013 Main characters of these pictures are lively, extraordinarily lively. They think, enjoy, suffer, love, laugh, get angry and the images are there to demonstrate it. However in the most of the case the around world does not understand it and it acts as they were able to survive only. These persons are living in very special manner since they do not have any restraint is typical of so-called normal people. The real problem is to give them a chance to live and not just to survive. In this they are not independent; disabled people depends on opportunities are given to them for creating relationship, gaining experiences, playing sports and music, working, loving and dancing. It means to live and to grow by living. For that purpose it is necessary a society supported by an efficient welfare with proper funds. However the actual crisis in Italy has brought several cuts on social programs and this prevent handicap persons from playing those opportunities For the case we are exploring – pictures are taken in the province of Biella, an area of the wealthy Northern West of Italy – there are several issues: the regional government is close to the bankruptcy, the Biella public Health Service budget for disabled persons program has been frozen from five years and the access to the services is locked for funds missing. The request for families to share the costs is beyond the limits of the law. In addition to that the VAT has to be paid by the private cooperatives are fundamental for supporting the social programs have been recently increased from 4% to 11%. In this desperate scenario, our work is trying to emphasize the significance of Carl Rogers’s word, the US psychologist that based on the “The person-centered approach” claims: “It is that the individual has within himself or herself vast resources for self-understanding, for altering his or her self-concept, attitudes and self-directed behavior - and that these resources can be tapped if only a definable climate of facilitative psychological attitudes can be provided." These images concern persons with different kind of intellectual disability, taken care of by the non profit Social Cooperatives of the Consorzio Sociale Il Filo da Tessere (Biella, Italy); the photoreportage has been realized between January 2012 and March 2013 during activities and services provided by these same cooperatives, especially by Domus Laetitiae Social Cooperative and within the own structure.

The Clericus Cup is a football tournament, sponsored by the Vatican and organized by the CSI (Italian Sport Centre) for members of the pontifical institutions of the province of Rome. The players are all priests or future seminarians, mostly non italians, and games are held at the Oratory of St. Peter's in Rome, overlooking the dome. Regulation differs in some details from that of the FIGC (Federazione Italiana Gioco Calcio) , but one difference is emblematic : the referees have a third card which is blue, in addition to the usual yellow and red cards. The blue card outs the player for five minutes allowing him to "meditate" on his foul. During games, it is surprising to see the priests fans version "ultras", even if the atmosphere is always cheerful and friendly, while keeping the spirit of competition. Games always end in a common prayer in the midfield . This eighth edition of the Clericus Cup just ended with the victory, the first in its history, of the Pontifical Collegio Urbano. The victory was won by seminar missionary priests from Gianicolo, which is located in the administrative territory of the Vatican but ouside the Vatican walls. 158 seminarians - some already ordained deacons - are non italians, and Africa is the most represented continent, followed by Asia. The team of "Urban" as dubbed by fans priests, is almost entirely composed of Africans, with the exception of one Indonesian, one Indian, and the responsible Vice Rector Father Agostino from Indonesia who recognizes he does not understand much about football. We chosen to follow the Pontifical Collegio Urbano in the final phase of the Clericus Cup as well as in the daily life of prayer, study and community life, until the unpredictable final victory .

In Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, the MMA is a fever. MMA means Mixed Martial Art, type of combat that combines techniques from all other martial arts, in particular brasilian ju-jitsu, muay thai, boxing. In iron cages usually octagonal, the fighters are struggling barefoot, with knuckle bandage and gloves smaller than those for boxing, and without a safety helmet. Marcio Pontes, coach of MMA in the Academia MPBJJ Nova União, says: "Here everybody loves the fight, who does not practice adores watching it, women, children .. when there is some important fight on TV, Manaus is empty. Even more than football, the passion is here for fighting, I don't know why; perhaps because of the nature here so powerful, perhaps is for the ancestral tradition of this land, where the indios have always had to fight". José Aldo, world champion in the featherweight category, comes from here, Alvorada district of Manaus, in the heart of which lies the Academia MPBJJ where he trained before becoming a star and moving to Rio. Today Jose Aldo is an icon and a model for all young fighters in Manaus, especially in Alvorada. In the Academia it’s like to be in a family, the Amazonian people got a natural and spontaneous kindness and it's shocking the contrast with the violence that explodes once in the cage, even if the respect between the fighters is palpable. For these guys fight is all, they train for several hours a day and invest in those fifteen minutes dreams, life and hope. In the early seasons as professional, a fighter gains between 300 and 1,000 reais per match, that means between 100 and 400 Euros, and every win means more opportunities for career and contracts for new and more important fights. Manaus is not an easy place, land of traffic and suffering, is a fight land indeed, but the fight means also discipline and determination, and a vehicle of improvement and hope.

Mali, Bamako: Women african football, among the Amazones of Bacodjikoronì in Bamako: in the dust wearing plastic sandals, dreaming to become Eto'o, Messi and Ronaldo. They are young and beautiful, they dream to become a football stars. They are the young football players of club Amazones of Bacodjikoronì, one of the Bamako districts. We followed them during the training and the second matchday of first division national league. Initially shy, they told us about dreams and hopes. Bacodjikoronì means “across the river”, where is located the Bamako district of Amazones women football club. In the afternoon heat is still suffocating, clouds of dust are winding girls dribbling, stop and back-heel. All of them dream to get a contract with foreign teams, in North Africa or better in Europe; and they believe it, their illusion is sweet. As for men, there's a market with observers and managers, but rarely the leap is successful without paying intermediaries. Not in all countries of subsaharian Africa there's a real league, but women football is a evolving reality, approaching the male one. Especially because is seen as a mean to reach a better future abroad, even if few people get it, above all between women. Mali is on of the poorest african countries, where in a traditional society girls get married young and not all the families accept easily to have a daughter football player. But the hope of success trough the football is so strong that often families accept to delay the wedding day and follow the dream of a career. Girls are training under a pitiless sun, football field is made of sand and small stones, some of them are wearing broken shoes, others plastic sandals. They are very beautiful, their faces graceful and sweet, but on the field they don't avoid fighting and strong actions, that's the reason because one of them is called “Gattuso”. They are part of the change of Africa, even in the way to be a woman; as every young they have the right to dream a better future, Europe myth is also passing through this sand. Bamako, Mali, 2011

In the first days of July 2013 a group of young palestinians and french circus artists was travelling trough Palestine, playing a new circus show in several cities of West Bank. It's a project in partnership between the Palestinian Circus School of Birzeit, near Ramallah, and Le Lido - Centre Municipal des Arts du Cirque de Toulouse. Circus in Palestine is something new; at the end of the shows, palestinians children didn't believe that 14 of the artists were palestinians too, as it seems unbelievable that palestinians could do something so new. It has been an integration event: the integration was in this group of young living, enjoying and creating together, talking and popularising a new art and a new language. Integration was in the pride of young palestinians to be as professional as the europeans artists and in their pride to introduce them in their country and in his difficult situation. This event was part of a process of a cultural and educational growth for a country – or a land – that lives a really abnormal condition and wish to be normal.

Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas and one of the cities where it will be played the FIFA World Cup 2014, is very far from the images that usually Brazil evokes. Located on the banks of the Rio Bravo at the confluence with the Rio Solimoes that gives life to the Amazon river, is a metropolitan outpost in the middle of the Amazon jungle. From here, you move especially on boats that run through rivers and canals. The passion for football, however, is a fever even in the middle of the Amazon, as shown by a football women team of the Esporte Clube do Iranduba de Amazonia. From birth in 2011, under the expert guidance of Olavo Dantas Ferreira that is something more than a coach, the team won three times the Campeonato Amazonense, and was representing the state in the female Copa do Brasil ranking among the top ten national teams. The resources are scarce, however, and despite the results the club complains the lack of support by the institutions, with the consequent risk of survival of the club. The trips from Manaus mean hours and often days to reach other places of this enormous state and for a club competing in the amateur category is not an easy life. The coach and the club are making great efforts as volunteers, to carry out a project that goes beyond the sport; in an harsh land, with problems of prostitution and trafficking, including minors, the football is also a medium of emancipation and hope. We walked with the girls in the new Arena, the stadium ready for the World Cup next coming in, where they hope one day to play too ...

Le "Bhiwani Boxing Club" (BBC), Bhiwani, Haryana, Inde, 2013 - travail de Marida Augusto et Max Hirzel © Augusto/Hirzel. Fondé en 2003 à Bhiwani, petite ville rurale de l'état d'Haryana (nord de l'Inde) - le BBC est surnommé “The little Cuba" depuis que de là sont sortis quatre des cinq boxeurs qui ont représenté l'Inde à Pékin aux Jeux Olympiques du 2008. L'un d'eux, Vijender Singh, est devenu un héros national en remportant la médaille de bronze, la seule médaille indienne dans ces jeux Olympiques. Des centaines de jeunes athlètes, hommes et femmes âgés de neuf à vingt-cinq, s'entraînent tous les jours sous les yeux du coach, M. Jagdish Singh, aussi fondateur et président du BBC. Ils commencent à 6h30 du matin jusqu'à 9, les plus petits avant d'aller à l'école, et encore à partir de 6h du soir Le BBC n'est pas seulement une école de boxe, c'est quelque chose de plus. Les athlètes, qui viennent soit de villages de l'Haryana soit d'autres états indiens, quittent souvent leur familles pour fréquenter un club qui représente le rêve d'une perspective de vie différente dans l'espoir de succès, mais qui se révèle être aussi et surtout un lieu où apprendre la discipline et le respect et une école qui fait ces jeunes plus autonomes et confiants en soi-mêmes. Surtout pour les filles qui vivent dans une zone rurale ancrée dans la culture traditionnelle, la boxe est quelque chose de nouveau qui les rend plus forts, surtout en ce moment de recrudescence de la violence contre les femmes. Pour ces jeunes athlètes M. Jagdish Singh n'est pas seulement un entraîneur de sport, est un guide pour les conduire dans leur vie et vers leur avenir.

Biella, Italy, 2012 - Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities. Created in the early 1960s by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, SO transforms lives through the joy of sport, every day, everywhere. With nearly 4 million athletes in more than 170 countries and millions more volunteers and supporters. Shooting during Italian Special Olympics national games 2012 - By Marida Augusto and Max Hirzel - © M.Augusto/M.Hirzel/haytham-2012

A week of italian politics: from the Nuovo Centrodestra presentation to PD internal election, from Forza Italia convention to the protests of 9th December

From south to north Tunisia, before, during and after vote

Solar Mamas, a project by Barefoot College, Tilonia, Rajasthan, northern India. Gandhi also believed in the equality of women. The Barefoot College has struggled to train village women, in areas that have traditionally been dominated by men. Founded in 1972 by Bunker Roy to help Rajasthan rural communities, the Barefoot College created in 2005 a program allowing women from rural areas of India and other countries, to become solar energy engineer, bring electricity to their communities and manage the village solar equipment. Since 1972, more than 6,525 unassuming housewives, mothers & grandmothers, midwives, farmers, daily wage labourers and small shopkeepers, who represent the profile of rural women from poor agricultural communities, have been trained as Barefoot midwives, handpump mechanics, solar engineers, artisans, weavers, balsevika (crèche teachers), parabolic solar cooker engineers, FM radio operators and fabricators, dentist, masons, and day and night school teachers. Women who are single mothers, middle-aged, divorced, physically challenged or illiterate are prioritised for training over others because they need the employment opportunity and income the most. What the College has effectively demonstrated is how sustainable the combination of traditional knowledge (barefoot) and demystified modern skills can be, when the tools are in the hands of those who are considered ‘very ordinary’ and are written off by urban society. The Barefoot College is viewed as a success story because it is shown as an example of what is possible if very poor people are allowed to develop themselves. It is a new concept that has stood the test of time. The ‘Barefoot approach’ may be viewed as a ‘concept’, ‘solution’, ‘revolution’, ‘design’ or an ‘inspiration’ but it is really a simple message that can easily be replicated by the poor and for the poor in neglected and underprivileged communities anywhere the world. Bunker Roy was selected as one of Time 100's most influential personalities in 2010 for his work in educating illiterate and semi literate rural Indians. © Marida Augusto/Max Hirzel

The old pagan fertility tree rite, today is a religious feast dedicated to S. Francesco da Paola

Milan Fashion Week, in a different way...

Images in pairs of women football players of Orange Football Club in Italy (Palaia, Toscany) and Girls Football Academy of Beirut, Liban

Images in pairs of women football players of 4 different continents: The Amazones of Bamako (Mali), Iranduba Futbol Club of Manaus (Bresil), Girls Football Academy of Beirut (Liban) and Orange Football Club of Palaia (Italy)

The Girls Football academy of Beirut is the first team exclusively female in Lebanon. It’s not just a team playing in the senior league, but also a football school for girls of avery age, founded by Nadia Assaf and Walid Arakji. The players of the senior league team represent the different components of Lebanon society, as they are from different religious backgrounds, christian, druses and muslims witch are predominant. The reportage tell about their last match of the season, against the Football Club Beirut. Who win, get the second place on the league...

We are in Kihnu, a timeless island off the gulf of Riga, in Estonia. Become Unesco World Heritage in 2008, this fairy-tale island of 16 km2 is one of the best examples of the "estonicity", this national identity to which Estonia jealously grips on, 25 years after the restoring of its independence. With a specificity: here, the women are the guards of the traditions, left only chief of the island during the long months of absence of the men set sail. Nevertheless, the island has to reinvent herself not to congeal in its memory, while the young people are leaving more and more numerous.

"In the desert I saw a grave, it was of a girl of Douala, and I wondered if her parents, her brothers and sisters knew that their baby was there“. I met Alpha in Bamako, in 2011. The idea to work on the management of migrant deceased bodies originated that day, with his words. I began from the cemeteries, I wanted to understand where and how those bodies are buried, how many are identified and how many not. I noticed many similarities between the reception of migrant people survivors and the management of migrant's corpses: codes, lines, numbers, suits, masks. In both cases, the individual histories bring us to the person. These bodies, as quantity and age of the victims, represent an anomaly, a huge aberration that can be mistaken for fatality. I wanted to show this anomaly. One corpse, one person. A number instead of the name. I was getting closer to the heart of the matter, the identification. In one side of the Mediterranean sea there are people working for returning a name to a body. In the other one the missing families that without that body cannot celebrate the mourning. I met many stories, as those of Angelo Milazzo, policeman of Syracuse Attorney, and Mohamed Matok, Syrian lawyer, that leaved Damascus especially to visit the grave of his brother, identified by Angelo. Then the story of the so-called “boat of innocents” - which sank on April 18th 2015, with the loss of more than 700 lives – that intersects with the work of Cristina Cattaneo, director of Labanof (Forensic Anthropology Laboratory of Milan University), and with the young autopsy technicians of the Palermo Policlinic. Finally, in south Senegal, I met the family of Mamadou, missing for two years, he's an alleged victim of this same shipwreck of April 18th 2015. "They face an impossible mourning", explains Miriam Orteiza, International Red Cross psychologist, "They need to have evidence to accept death, to be able to process mourning, they must have a body". "Migrant bodies" is today a book, published by Emuse in 2021, available at emusebooks.com

At the border of Estonia Narva face Ivangorod, his Russian twin city on the other side of the river. In this city of more than 60 000 inhabitants, 97 % of the population is Russian-speaking. During the war, Narva is almost totally destroyed. The Soviet Empire rebuild the city, move Russian workers and forbids the Estonian people to return there. Today, 25 years after the restoring of the Estonia independence and two years after the crisis in Crimea, the Russian-speaking community is the object of all the attentions. If almost all our interlocutors exclude an Ukrainian scenario, the balance between both communities is not less precarious.

Cela fait plus de deux ans qu'il attendait de poser le pied en Italie. Cette fois, Mohamed Saeed Matouk y est. Lundi 20 Fevrier, enfin, cet avocat syrien est parti de Démasque pour rejoindre Beyrouth et de là à Catane, en Sicile. C'est là que nous l’avons attendu pour suivre son voyage.  Mohamed Saeed Matouk a fui la Syrie en guerre pour aller se recueillir sur la tombe de son frère, mort dans un naufrage en Méditerranée. Quand le corps sans vie est arrivé sur les côtes siciliennes avec 23 autres, un homme a pris soin d'eux et s'est promis de retrouver leur identité. C'est Angelo Milazzo, un inspecteur de police de Syracuse. Pendant des mois, il a cherché sur les réseaux sociaux les proches des victimes, a reçu des centaines de mails de familles.  Mohamed Saeed Matouk aussi lui a écrit, il cherchait son frère et a fini par le reconnaître sur l'une des photos. A force de s'envoyer des messages sur Whatsapp, une amitié est née entre le Syrien et le Sicilien. Toutes les semaines, Mohamed Saeed Matouk envoie à l'inspecteur des messages de remerciements et des fleurs virtuelles. Son visa obtenu, ils se sont enfin rencontrés. textes: Cécile Débarge

Avec 77 jeunes hommes disparus en mer, Thiaroye-sur-mer se classe parmi les communautés du Sénégal les plus touchées par le «phénomène des pirogues». On appelle ainsi une vague massive de départs vers l'Europe qui a atteint son apogée entre les années 2005 et 2008. Les familles de Thiaroye, qui ont longtemps vécu des produits de la mer et de la culture de la terre, ont vu leurs vies bouleversées par la croissance démographique et urbaine. Face à la pression économique, les jeunes générations se sont détournées de la pêche et beaucoup ont choisi l'exode, dans l'espoir de se bâtir un futur meilleur et d'aider leur famille. La militarisation du détroit de Gibraltar les a poussés vers des voies navigables de plus en plus dangereuses : les îles Canaries sont devenues leur porte pour l'Europe, au départ des côtes de la Mauritanie ou du Sénégal. Les communautés de pêcheurs comme celle de Thiaroye, possédant des embarcations et une bonne connaissance de la mer, sont naturellement devenues des zones de départ. Yayi Bayam Diouf a perdu son fils dans un naufrage en 2006 - une tragédie qui peut aujourd'hui sembler tristement familière. La même année, elle fonde le Collectif des Femmes contre l'immigration illégale de Thiaroye-sur-mer, qui en regroupe toujours 375. La couverture médiatique de leur mouvement a attiré l'aide étrangère. Le soutien financier de la coopération espagnole, a ainsi permis aux mères d'organiser des séances de projections de films pour sensibiliser les adolescents aux risques du départ et ouvrir un centre de formation pour leur offrir de nouvelles perspectives. Mais les soutiens se sont peu à peu taris. Avec la crise de 2008, la coopération espagnole n'a pas renouvelé son financement et le projet a perdu une partie de sa dynamique. Aujourd'hui, les mères, toujours solidaires et actives, demeurent seules face aux difficultés pour nourrir leur famille, tandis que le contexte économique ne s'améliore pas et que les jeunes rêvent toujours d'ailleurs. Reportage réalisé avec les journalistes Aurélie Darbouret et Isabelle Mayault // Collectif 2026 – c2026.info

Young boy Eritrean, deaf, Hailù has lived the last 8 years in the refugee camp of Mai-Ayni with his mother and his 4 brothers, in Ethiopia. Escaped from Eritrea like many others, they are among the 500 refugees selected to be transferred to Italy through a safe entry channel. The CEI (Italian Episcopal Conference) has in fact promoted the opening of a new humanitarian corridor between Ethiopia and Italy that will allow the arrival, by 2019, of 500 Eritrean, Somali and South-Sudanese refugees. Three subjects signed the "technical protocol": the CEI (acting through the Italian Caritas and the Migrantes Foundation), the Community of Sant'Egidio and the Italian Government. Acting in Ethiopia with the precious help of the NGO Gandhi of Alganesc Feassah. On February 27, a first group of 113 people arrived in Rome, 61 Eritreans coming from the refugee camps in the north of the country, and other South-Sudanese and Somali urban refugees. With 50 other refugees, Hailù and his family lived their last Ethiopian month in a house rented by Caritas in Addis Ababa, to perform the medical examinations and necessary procedures. Once in Rome, they continued their journey to Cossato, a small city in the north of Italy, the destination chosen for them because here there's a school of excellence for learning sign language, the Comprehensive Institute of Cossato. Not all students are deaf, but all learn the sign language. So it will also be for Hailù and his brothers, and consequently for the young mother. Caritas will provide them with what is necessary to start the new life: the novelty of the project lies above all in matching the needs of these families with the opportunities of the communities of destination, to respond to situations of vulnerability and increase the chances of success of integration processes. I chose to tell the case of Hailù because it is emblematic. He had already invented his own sign language, with which he communicates with his mother and brothers. To see him discover day after day a world of deaf people and a true language made of signs, it's fascinating. It is also to see the ability to welcome and help that other children and the school are showing. They are giving a lesson to everyone, in signs. I started following Hailù from the days before the departure from Addis Ababa, and I'm still doing it.

Italian Special Olympics Games 2017, for mentally disabled people, Biella, northern Italy

Two opposing Italies, facing each other. Here represented by two situations that summarize them: on one side the people of Riace, where the integration model created by Mimmo Lucano recently has been canceled, at the moment. On the other, Salvini and the people of Lega party during a gathering in Capriata d'Orba, with a speech of the leader. A dialogue is impossible today, there is no common language. One is winning: the Italy that is afraid and has a sulky face, that feels threatened and wants to block the boundaries of its world and its gardens.

Between November 2017 and January 2019, 500 refugees have been transferred from Ethiopia to Italy through a safe entry channel. The CEI (Italian Episcopal Conference) has in fact promoted the opening of a new humanitarian corridor between Ethiopia and Italy. Three subjects signed the "technical protocol": the CEI (acting through the Italian Caritas and the Migrantes Foundation, with the precious help in Ethiopia of NGO Gandhi), the Community of Sant'Egidio and the Italian Government. The refugees, Eritrean, Somali and South-Sudanese, mostly come from the Ethiopian refugee camps, but there're also urban refugees coming from Addis Abeba. They are hosted in several Italian Dioceses, from North to South of Italy. In the Italian Caritas vision, the goal of the project it's not only to transfer people trough a safe way, but also to imagine a new way to manage the reception and the integration process. The novelty of the project lies above all in matching the needs of these families with the opportunities of the destination communities, to respond to situations of vulnerability and increase the chances of success of integration processes.

They are mostly Afghans, Pakistans, Bengalis, but also Iranians, Kurds, Iraqis and some Africans too. Most of them young, many are minors. They are living in the refugee camps near the UE borders, in Serbia and in Bosnia. They play “the game”, trying to burn the border with Croatia then crossing Slovenia to join others European countries. Those who have money can pay the smugglers, otherwise it means to try alone, trough the bush and the mountains, or in a truck or under it. According with the story of many of them, Croatian policemen broke their mobiles, take their shoes, often they beat them before to send them back in Serbia and Bosnia. They try again and again, the only choice is to move forward. Recently some of them has been officially identified in Croatia; as it's UE country, if in the future they will pass in others countries they can be returned in Croatia because of the Dublin Treaty. And Croatia will send them back in Bosnia and Serbia, even if they could'n do it. So the game starts anew.

The project was intended to document the medical-legal certification work on the marks of violence and torture suffered by the asylum seekers, work carried out by Dr. Antonietta Lanzarone at the Polyclinic of Palermo University. This certification is intended to be attached to the dossier that is presented to the Examination Commission of asylum applications. The visits conducted by Dr. Lanzarone are always structured in the same way: a preamble of the same Dr. to explain why and how the visit will be carried out, after which the subject is asked to tell his story of emigration, detailing in particular the episodes of violence experienced, facts, context and consequences. Finally, the body exam follows. The work of the doctor consists in assessing whether the signs found during the body analysis are compatible and to what extent, with the story narrated by the subject. After a few visits, some things became evident to me: the first is that the psychological signs are far deeper and more lacerating than those visible on the body. The repetitive gestures of all the refugees - hands holding the edge of the table, clenched fists and intertwined hands, etc., - represent the evident disturbance that the tales of the stories involve. The second one, is the corporal sounding that takes place in that room: basically, in front of me there was people that must undress and have their body analysed in the hope, not to being treated for existing traumas, but only to be believed in order to receive a document. As it was not enough to be victims of violence and torture of various degrees and levels - because this is what it is. So I chosen to do all the work in this same room, as it was so clear what was going on in that room that it seemed unnecessary and visually distracting to add anything else.

This work is the outcome of four years of studying the Humanitarian Corridors run by Caritas Italiana, a research lead by Ilaria Schnyder for the University of Notre-Dame (US). So it’s not just a photo work, 
the goal was to translate the complexity of many years of observation into concise bytes of text and image, like flashes of light that can illuminate hidden corners, details, and shadows that are difficult to see at first glance. So the texts - something more than the usual captions - are important as much as the images. What does it mean to accompany someone? Is “integration” always the correct word? What is “culture clash?” Can a person cause harm even when they act in good faith? Does exist the right distance to keep while welcoming another? These are just a few of the many questions that emerge. The research reflected in this work focuses on Corridors flowing from Ethiopia between 2017 and 2019, and covers a broad swath of geography and time: 45 Catholic dioceses from south to north were monitored (pandemic permitting) over the course of four years. This is an unusually long timeframe for a research project of this kind, and it has allowed for precious insights into the depth and variety of circumstances and challenges. In fact, the result - even if this study concerns a circumscribed set of beneficiaries, refugees from Eritrea, Somalia, and South Sudan with their particular characteristics and experiences - turned out as an investigation of the depth and complexity of all the contexts of encounter between welcomers and newcomers. Images and texts by me and my colleague Marida Augusto. More details at humanlines.org

This work animates a recent action-research situated at the interface between theatre-based artistic practice and social science research. The project investigating the lived experiences of wildfires in the Chiquitania region of Bolivia –an area with one of the largest and best-preserved dry forests in the world. This is an ecosystem most vulnerable to extreme fires, and all communities in the region have been and continue to be profoundly affected by intensifying wildfires. Wildfires are one of the most pressing socio-ecological challenges of our time, driven by the rise in temperature and prolonged droughts liked to climate change as well as by changes in human activities, including agricultural practices, infrastructure development, demographic shifts, and urbanization. This research deployed Augusto Boal’s celebrated models of Theatre of the Oppressed and Forum Theatre to generate community-based dialogue and response to the complex cultural, political, distributive, environmental conflicts entangled in issues sparked by wildfires. A rich multicultural landscape, Chiquitania is home to indigenous groups, peasant communities, Mennonite settlements, urban dwellers, and others. Rural migration, the expansion of the agrarian frontier, new major infrastructure projects and the endemic lack of resources are resulting in low intensity conflict between different communities. In March 2022, 28 participants from 22 communities came together for a five-day workshop. Women and men from different indigenous, urban and migrant campesino communities shared their lived experiences of wildfires, and their stories were used to create four short Forum Theatre plays. Seven workshop participants were then selected to perform in four municipalities in the Chiquitania. Engaging over 800 people, these plays were performed 14 times in different locations, from the main squares of towns to remote rural indigenous and peasant communities. In the tradition of Forum Theatre, audience members were invited to intervene and come on stage to explore possible solutions and futures to the ‘fictional’ conflicts presented on ‘stage’. This series of pictures wants to represent the action carried out in the field, in a period of absence of fires: the images of the tour and the communities in which it was taken, switched with portraits of the protagonists in their real identity, and others in which they act - as during the theatrical action - the antithetical role of other subjects involved in the context of the fires. Actually in the theater creation process, the actors and actresses have been invited to exchange their roles – to not play their own story – to reduce the chance of reactivating trauma and help participants to understand the perspectives of their colleagues more fully. This exchange opened unexpected spaces for dialogue between project participants, themselves from communities often in conflict on issues relating to wildfires. More: playingwithwildifre.org

(WORK IN PROGRESS) As much as it is talked about, the perception in the collective imaginary of what happens in the Mediterranean sea, is far from grasping the enormity of the encounter between saviors and saved. An extraordinary matching, in which it is often not perceived what is at stake. The story develops as a visual dialogue which, uniting rescuers and rescued people, leads back to the essence of being humans. On those ships a bubble of humanity is created, in which it is very clear what is right; embodies a vision of the world and life in opposition to another, which closes doors and consciences to humanity. The series - a result of 31 days aboard the Humanity1 of SOS Humanity NGO, is part of a larger project that wants to tell the epochal fight underway against humanity on the move and solidarity

Italy produces 52% of all European rice, but the total cultivated hectares have decreased from 218,000 in 2022 to 210,000 in 2023, reaching a three-decade low in production, continuing a downward trend since 2020. The drought of the previous season evidently prompted some farmers to abandon rice cultivation, but the issue is not solely related to drought. It's a matter of choices and perspective. On one hand, the land is exploited to maximize yield and production, while on the other hand, there is an awareness that if we don't prioritize the land and the management of water as a common resource, in the long run, there may be no harvest for anyone. In 2022, the "water war" erupted in Piedmont, as defined by the farmers themselves, due to an unprecedented drought. After 16 months of scarcity, May 2023 saw the return to reassuring water levels, but the problem is far from being resolved. Data on the alternation between periods of drought and heavy precipitation, along with the increase in average temperatures, suggest the ongoing process of "tropicalization" and the future landscape of the Po Valley. Actually, the landscape has already changed since many farmers have chosen to adopt the "dry seeding" method, which does not involve field irrigation in the early months of the season and requires less labor. However, it requires water in June, the time of greatest need for other crops as well, and it further lowers the water table, reducing the overall availability of the "rice ecosystem." The individual choice of farmers to adopt this method is understandable, but it is detrimental and unsustainable in the long term for the entire sector and the water management system. The ongoing change is irreversible, and solutions are needed. In the dry land surrounding the Ente Nazionale Risi, stand out some rows of emerald green seedlings, a result of genetic research aimed at identifying increasingly high-performing and drought-resistant species. The issue is not just climatic but also a matter of a comprehensive vision. The Polyculturae Association in Rovasenda believes that we must work with and for nature, not against it. Research and experimentation are also carried out here: certification of ancient seeds, pachamatura, and agroforestry. The goal is to recover lost biodiversity and remain competitive while renouncing any herbicides and insecticides. And to teach citizens and other producers that it is possible to change perspective. This is a story of water, land, and rice, but above all, it is a story of men and women grappling with a sudden, albeit predicted, change.

(ENG following) Questa è una piccola vetrina di immagini in vendita. (CLICCA PER INGRANDIRE) Si può scegliere la singola immagine, o un trittico - composizioni di piccole storie o accostamenti di senso, contesto, forme e linee. Ogni foto ha ovviamente una storia, che per me racchiude il valore dello scatto, al di là dell’estetica. Quindi, sul retro di ogni foto, firmata e numerata, ci sarà qualche riga da me scritta che in qualche modo contestualizza quei momenti. Le fotografie sono stampate con bordo bianco, che le rende adatte a qualsiasi tipo di montaggio. Salvo diversa richiesta, il formato base per la stampa singola è 24x36 cm, al costo di € 80,00. Il trittico prevede tre stampe 20x30 cm, al costo complessivo di € 200,00. Vanno aggiunti i costi di spedizione; su richiesta, si può fornire il montaggio con cornice o su pannello “piuma” di 1 cm. Per ordini e informazioni: hirzel.max@gmail.com . CLICK TO ENLARGE This is intended to be a small showcase of images for sale. It is possible to choose a single image, or a triptych - compositions of small stories or combinations of meaning, context, shapes and lines. Each photo obviously has a story, which for me contains the value of the shot, beyond aesthetics. So, on the back of each photo, signed and numbered, there will be a few lines written by me that somehow contextualize those moments. The photos are printed with a white border, making them suitable for any type of mounting. Unless otherwise requested, the basic format for the single print is 24x36cm, at a cost of €80.00. The triptych includes 3 20x30 prints, at a total cost of €200.00. Shipping costs must be added; upon request, I can provide mounting with a frame or on a 1 cm panel. For orders or information: hirzel.max@gmail.com