I had just arrived in Italy for a few weeks’ holidays, when I became aware of the difficult situation in which my country was. Hundreds of immigrants, some of whom are here illegally, have landed on our shores and have now spread here and there on the Italian mainland, chasing utopia of European help, that’s slowly faded. Obviously, when the facts take place in the city where you live in, it all has a bitter taste.
So, armed with my camera, today I went to the French-Italian border to see what was going on. France has simply blocked access to its territory. Police cars are there to prevent the refugees from entering their country, a country that should defend the values of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Among other photographers, journalists and TV, I felt like an intruder, nobody knew who I was — just another person with a camera that tries to capture one of those blank looks on the rocks.
It was not easy. My hands were shaking a little, I was witnessing such a sad event and I even felt a little guilty for trying to find perfection in a photo while my subjects were betting their freedom. Only disappointment was with me all the time I was there, I was sadly disappointed with us, we the Europeans, with how we are closed, with our reactions and with how we are distant despite being together on the same continent.
A couple of questions arose, what about the Schengen Agreement? And above all, where is the European Union? The idea of creating Europe was beautiful, but unfortunately I think it remained just at the embryonic stage of an “idea”. Because by observing the recent events happened in Europe, I came to realise that the European countries are much more concerned about defending their rights and their interests, forgetting values such as solidarity and unity, rather than having a vision of a single European continent. We need something more than a common currency and a bunch of laws to create the European Union and unfortunately I guess we are still far from succeeding.
So, for tonight, I’ll remain with my bitter taste in my mouth and leave my pictures speak for themselves.
Please find French and Italian Version here
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