Check out #4. Congrats.

That’s not something that exists this way, Europe is made of so many different countries and cultures that a statement like yours is not correct at its base.

As for me, this essay doesn’t move me in the same way, but these people are farther away from my backyard than the brothels of Bangladesh.

Here, like with the previous essay, change starts right there, with you, shift in thinking and behaving.. this is Naples, Europe.. no excuses, no third world country, not far away and exotic.. Valerio Spada’s backyard.. my backyard..

This work is not new to me, been following it for a bit now, glad Valerio keeps going! Grazie!

Thanks for sharing this with us. This is seriously strong, ballsy work, in my opinion.

I particularly like the mixture of styles used to unravel a seriously thorny subject, over what seems to be an extended period of time.

Bravo

B

Thanks so much for having me here. Its a very well done platform, I’m looking at the essay on an Ipad and at fullscreen with captions popping in and out feels so natural going through it that is the closest thing to my book I saw on the web. Great job. Thank you again.

Thomas, Jonathan, Gordon, Carlo

Thanks for sharing your feelings towards this story. It’s great to see that my work is able to reach your eyes.

Jonathan

Thanks for your question. I shot this picture with a small compact film camera, at the height of my and his heart, and at Annalisa’s necklace height, same axis. I was recording my talk with Giovanni, listening for the first time to Annalisa’s story. I asked him if I can take a picture of his necklace and he agreed.
It’s the only image of Annalisa and her father in the whole book and body of work. I guess his dignity, his strength were just too much for me to handle with a camera. That was also the last Kodachrome film I ever shot. When the film came back processed, it was all clear.

Frostfrog

Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

So very, very, powerful.

A loud story, told quietly, subtly; a place of bright color presented in subdued color.

Every picture makes me want to stop, gaze and ponder.

It is art. It is photojournalism.

Good photojournalism is art.

Always.

It almost a little too generic and without caption info the same set of images could, really, be duplicated
anywhere.

Not to discredit Valerio for the effort but I think there are some missing pieces to the puzzle needed to
elevate it above just another hard luck piece.

I totally get it. I can’t say why this one sparked something in me instead of the other one but it sure got me thinking!
Laura El Tantawy single a few weeks back did the same to me.

we do like to do certain kinds of stories together when we can…not to “test” exactly, but just to get you thinking about the ways photographers tackle difficult subject matter…in both cases, stories close to home…

This seems more “real” and less artistic than the “Bitterest Pill”!
That is why I decided to write a comment and not in the other one. This has more weight in my opinion.
I’m not diminishing the impact of the other versus this one….just that this one spoke louder to me. Perhaps this is David and burn crew testing this audience?!?!?
Either way this essay is well told and presented.

This time, it is packaged as art instead of photojouralism. ‘

There has been a lot of buzz about Gomorrah Girl, I’m glad to finally get a look at it. There is another edit on Valerio’s site, but this edit seems about right.

Of course, being presented here beside “Bitterest Pill” invites comparisons, and begs a lot of questions. How effective either approach is in making a difference in the lives of the subjects? Is that the intent?What are the ethics involved in turning the under-belly of life into art rather than into magazine pages?

Congratulations Valerio, nicely done. I hope you do continue to photograph and make the series of books you mention.