noemi zaltron

“WIP Italy” is a visual journey through today’s Italy, seen from the perspective of a generation shaped by uncertainty — those aged 18 to 35. Against the backdrop of economic hardship, social unrest, cultural shifts, and a global pandemic that hit Italy early and hard, the project reflects on how these events have reshaped young people’s lives.

In a time marked by political extremes and fading certainties, WIP Italy captures the thoughts, memories, and everyday realities of a generation in transition. Through portraits, places, and personal stories, it becomes an evolving archive — a mirror of a country in flux, told by those living its present and questioning its future.

Italy has always been my home, but never quite my house.

For several years, I lived abroad — a distance that deepened my interest in the concept of belonging. I often asked myself how my life might have unfolded had I never left Italy. This question became the foundation for earlier projects like The Life I Have Never Lived and Going Back Is Harder Than Going Away, where I explored the tension between departure and return.

Now that I am back, I’ve begun to understand my relationship with the country where I was born with greater clarity — not just in personal terms, but through the stories of others. My interest in “belonging to Italy” has expanded beyond myself.

I want to understand how the people around me relate to the places they inhabit: what connects them, what pushes them away, what holds them in place. With my camera, I’ve started exploring these questions — meeting people, listening to their stories, and photographing them. This time, however, the act of taking pictures feels different — more intentional, more aware.