Triestine by birth, Milanese by adoption, porteño by destiny — whenever I can, I return to my intimate and melancholic Buenos Aires. I have no roots, only legs, and I chose the profession of the wind so as not to betray that subtle and vital need to feel elsewhere.
Photojournalist, writer, documentary photographer, film director, traveller by an incurable necessity of the soul. A firm believer in travel as an irreplaceable means of understanding, I use the art of visual storytelling to depict the world’s struggles and contradictions. With the methodical precision of a photojournalist and the vision of a storyteller, I dedicate myself to those stories that seem determined to remain hidden.
I tell the stories of individuals — men and women who together form that fragmented puzzle called Humanity, to which we all, in some way, belong. I tell them mostly through photography, but at times also through writing, to give a powerful voice especially to those invisible stories lost in the media chaos of daily life. I am drawn to strong stories, and often, unwillingly, become entangled in them. I speak of refugees and their hopes, of sexual abuse and violence against women from Africa to South America, of brothels and child soldiers, of the marginalised — but also of smiles.
As a freelance photojournalist, I have produced various reportages across nearly all of Africa (Cameroon, D.R. Congo, Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia, Uganda, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, …), as well as in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Mindanao, Philippines, Indonesia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and crisis and war zones throughout the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia. I collaborate with several national (a few) and international magazines and outlets, and have received numerous international awards.
I still believe that photography should come before the name of its author — out of respect for the stories it carries. A teacher by vocation, I organise workshops and mentorships dedicated to discovering and developing one’s own photographic narrative — to unlock the chests of memory and break open the horizons that confine our recollections.
My companion in life is Valentino, a Jack Russell terrier who, at every departure, reminds me that there is always a return. Those who know me know that I like to cross life without skirting around it — and, borrowing the words of Robert Frost, I can say that I have “had a lover’s quarrel with the world.”
In 2019 I founded the project DOOG REPORTER, of which I am co-founder together with filmmaker Lisa Zillio.
My work focuses mainly on:
– reportage and documentation
– crisis areas and armed conflicts
– medium/long term projects
– social and humanitarian issues