When the river breaks
This has been a project realised for UNOCHA about the consequences of the flooding in Niger.
- Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
Reggio Emilia, Province of Reggio Emilia, Italy
1 review$150 - $510 / Day
Request QuoteI am a photo-reporter, born in Reggio Emilia, Italy in 1991. From 2014 to 2015 I lived in Mexico, alternating studies in communication with independent productions of documentary videos. Afterwards I graduated in 2016 in Cinema and Media Engineering in the polytechnic school of Turin. In 2017 I moved to Mali where I lived and worked until 2021. In West Africa I worked as a stringer for AFP and as a freelance for several Ngos and UN agencies, covering assignments in other countries such as Senegal, Niger, Tchad, Mauritania, Nigeria, Benin. My love for travelling combined with photography and journalism led me towards a research to better understand my surroundings. Photography is a way to focus on the other, pursuing people that I humanly admire, in whom I recognise virtues and issues that question my own sphere of values and certitudes. The main subject that I work on are related to news stories, society, culture, environment, climate crisis and consequences of conflict.
This has been a project realised for UNOCHA about the consequences of the flooding in Niger.
MAHRĪ In the south-east of Mauritania, along the border with neighbouring Mali, a cliff called Dahr acts as a geographical barrier in a desert area. Here a few narrow roads allow the passage of the cliff, becoming crucial crossroads to be monitored in order to limit the spread of jihadist extremism, which is strongly present on the other side of the border. A unit called Mehariste, part of the National guard, acts to control the movements along the border. With their camels, one of the most resilient animal in those environments, they are able to reach isolated communities that would otherwise be inaccessible. Thanks to their proximity to local populations they represent an important source of intelligence, contributing to provide informations on an “invisible” border of this desert zone. Meharists play a key role by responding to the basic needs such as the construction of wells, important crossing points in the desert, and providing free primary health care consulting. © Michele Cattani - Text: Paul Lorgerie
Since 2015, central Mali has been caught up in an outbreak of violence that spreads day by day. The rise of a jihadist preacher Amadou Koufa, who hails from the nomadic Fulani herding community, also known as the Peul, has inflamed centuries-old tensions between herders and farmers. Koufa has largely recruited among his own people, and the wider Fulani community became tarred because of their attacks. Other ethnic groups, notably the traditional Dogon hunters and the Bambara, formed so- called self-defence forces. One of these groups, a pro-Dogon militia called Dan Nan Ambassagou, has been accused by NGOs and the UN of carrying out massacres in Fulani villages, an allegation it denies. The Malian army has also been accused by NGOs of occasionally collaborating with the Dan Nan Ambassagou against the Jihadists. Nearly 200.000 people have fled violence in central Mali. The stories collected in this series aim to go beyond the polarisation of a conflict and to represent the complex dynamics of tensions that are often summarily stigmatised with an ethnic label. All the people portrayed have, voluntarily or not, experienced the horror chapter of the region, finding themselves caught up in a conflict that has changed their lives, forcing them to flee and living in anonymity. Everyone represents a different facet of the conflict. © AFP Photo/Michele Cattani - Text: Amaury Hauchard
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