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Documenting SMA with Wamba Onlus (2014)

In 2014, I was selected to participate in a documentary project in collaboration with Wamba Onlus, focusing on children living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

At the time, there were only five specialized treatment centers for SMA in all of Italy — located in Milan, Genoa, Rome, Messina, and Palermo. For many families, this meant facing long and complicated journeys, along with the emotional, logistical, and financial challenges that came with them.

Wamba Onlus works to improve the quality of life for these families by advocating for better access to care and by organizing supportive initiatives — including accessible holidays like the one I documented.

I spent a week in Lignano Sabbiadoro with the children and their families, living alongside them and capturing moments of their summer holiday through the lens of my camera. What struck me most was not only the joy and resilience I witnessed, but the extraordinary strength these children and their families showed in their daily lives.

This project stands as my first experience in documentary photography, and it deeply shaped my approach to storytelling and human connection through images.