Young as Bologna

Photo story narrating youth in the city of Bologna. Shot on a smartphone for D Repubblica.

Bologna is one of the cultural capitals of Italy and also one of the cities with the highest density of university students from all over the country and abroad. If one wanders the city centre, it is not rare to find yourself surrendered just by people aged 20 to 30ish: the rest of the world still exists somewhere else, but youth seems to have taken over the city walls.

In a country as Italy where, as a young person, one can easily feel powerless and isolated, short on social and practical resources, Bologna is a playground open for youngs to experiment, and it encourages sociality, aggregation, culture, creativity, lust, empowerment, motivation and simply fun.

Its magic made it in the past the birthplace of some of the most central national artists, musicians and cultural operators of this century. I moved to Bologna a year ago and I started taking a visual diary only shot through my smartphone of the city. In particular, I have been a voyeur looking at what is to me the quintessential characteristic of Bologna: its youth, everywhere and in every shape, putting itself as central and necessary to the town and the world again.