Human Bins

Human Bins is a photographic project which aims to raise awareness of food value and to report the phenomenon of “caporalato”.

Caporalato is a form of slavery that hits Italy, and more precisely its southern

regions, which the world and Europe seem to ignore for centuries.

In supermarkets, we often have the chance to buy products at a very low price without thinking that those prices do not correspond to the effective product value and the work needed for its production. Behind a €0,39 tomato sauce is the work of many people who are often forced to live in precarious situations.

This photographic series starts with the Apulian countryside and zooms in on the farmers sitting in the tomato bins. Human Bins wants to answer the question “What is the value we give to mankind?”, comparing the farmers to the value of one bin full of tomatoes.

I decided to talk about this topic due to my closeness to it. The inhabitants of my region, Apulia, have always been and still are a victim of caporalato.

I shot this series using a Canon EOS 250D.

© Matteo Falcone - Image from the Human Bins photography project
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Picture of the Apulian countryside. Some of the buildings you can find in these landscapes are used as sleeping rooms for many farmers.

© Matteo Falcone - Image from the Human Bins photography project
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Picture of the Apulian countryside. Some of the buildings you can find in these landscapes are used as sleeping rooms for many farmers.

© Matteo Falcone - Image from the Human Bins photography project
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Picture of the Apulian countryside. Some of the buildings you can find in these landscapes are used as sleeping rooms for many farmers.

© Matteo Falcone - Image from the Human Bins photography project
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Picture of the Apulian countryside. Some of the buildings you can find in these landscapes are used as sleeping rooms for many farmers.

© Matteo Falcone - An example of minivan used by the "caporale" to pick up the farmers.
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An example of minivan used by the "caporale" to pick up the farmers.

© Matteo Falcone - An example of minivan used by the "caporale" to pick up the farmers.
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An example of minivan used by the "caporale" to pick up the farmers.

© Matteo Falcone - Image from the Human Bins photography project
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The interior of the minivan used by the "caporale" to pick up the farmers. The farmers are usually stocked inside the vans with no seats or enough personal space.

© Matteo Falcone - Image from the Human Bins photography project
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The interior of the minivan used by the "caporale" to pick up the farmers. The farmers are usually stocked inside the vans with no seats or enough personal space.

© Matteo Falcone - Fingerprints on the minivan.
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Fingerprints on the minivan.

© Matteo Falcone - Tomato sauce found in a supermarket in North Italy at the cost of €0,39
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Tomato sauce found in a supermarket in North Italy at the cost of €0,39

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