Over six years, I developed an ongoing photographic project in Naples with my close friend and collaborator Domenico Scialò, who is from Casalnuovo di Napoli. Returning over several summers allowed the work to grow through observation, research and relationships with the people we photographed.
The project explores the area's social and environmental realities, bringing together pollution and waste burning with the lives of trans women we met and worked with. We photographed some of the same women over several years, building relationships beyond a single encounter. Participants were paid for their time and involvement.
One of the central figures is Sara Carbone, whom we photographed during three different summers. Sara is a trans woman, actress, beauty entrepreneur and community activist from Naples. Through the association Volo Libero, she has supported young people at risk in neighbourhoods including Piscinola and Scampia. In 2017, as the association's president, she became the first trans woman in Naples to be entrusted with the management of a church. Pio Monte della Misericordia granted the Cappella Madonna delle Grazie in Piscinola to the association for use as a social and cultural centre for young people in the neighbourhood.
Alongside her professional life, Sara has continued her community work, including volunteering for the protection of minors in Ponticelli. She also appears in Ballata Femmenella, a documentary exploring Naples' historic femmenella culture and contemporary transgender community.
These recurring encounters allowed the work to move beyond individual portraits, exploring identity, marginalisation and environmental conditions alongside care and the networks of support people create within their communities.