After the 4/6 earthquake at 3:30am in L'Aquila, home has represented the aim for excellence in terms of habitat: after being destroyed, home had to be found, restored, modified, fought, and was won and lost again by the people of Abruzzo. This photograph represents the "nest for mankind".

This restaurant in Taccone, near Matera, is empty due to emigration.

A fisherman resting before starting the day's work on a "passerella", a boat with a long stem and suspended 25 meters above water, where he will lie in wait for the swordfish to be caught with a spear gun. This activity can only be carried on between the months of May and September each year, when swordfish pass by the Strait of Messina.

Votive statues in the suburbs of Naples.

In my "Argonauts" series I focus on the inhabitants of the Padan Plain, taking its name from the Po River. I document the lives taking place at the margins of this nearly abandoned landscape.

Votive chapel near Pierabech, a small village on the border with the Veneto region.

Rome. A couple waiting for the bus.

Savona, may 2010. Makeshift huts on an old wharf and a man fishing.

Milan, northern suburbs. The summer night starts to be boring and really hot. Leaving the buildings behind, young people jump over the fence and dive into the water.

Inside a traditional farmhouse.

The remains of a luxury armchair by the outskirts of Turin. Scattered pieces of furniture signal the presence of prostitutes.

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Putzu Idu, near Oristano: Anna left the island because there is no work here. Now she lives in Barcelona.

Palermo has a ranking for the assignment of council flats, counting more than 10,000 families. Among them, over 500 are in the emergency list. In 2008, 12 of them found themselves without a place to stay, due to an eviction from the municipality. This was followed by a non-violent protest, a sit in by the city cathedral. Receiving no response from the mayor, by July 12 the exhausted families found a solution by squatting in a public structure that had been abandoned for years. The building, located at via Guzzetta, was completely redone by the families themselves, with no burden on the council budget. Casa Guzzetta, "Guzzetta House" became an example in communal living and human dignity. Two years later, on June 16, 2010, the council sent out a new order of eviction: nowadays the 12 families, who now count 13 children among them, are camping in front of the mayor's offices. There's no other alternative.

Antonio left the Appennini mountains, near Bologna, when he was still a young man and settled in Prato to work in a textile factory until his retirement. He transformed his tiny social housing courtyard in a luxurious garden and shows it proudly to me, before confessing he no longer believes in the political party he's been following all his life, and decided to vote for a different one.

Lake Caldaro is 20 kilometers out of Bolzano. Trentino Alto Adige having no seaside, this place is a favourite hangout during the summer, especially nearing sunset, when local resorts close down for the day and you can finally go for a swim by yourself.

Malga, Val San Barthèlemy.

Pian del Cansiglio, where a tiny Cimbrian linguistic area is still surviving. This place is not far from Conegliano Veneto, my husband’s grandparents native town. This is why my husband is strongly linked to this region, in fact both his parents come from Veneto. His grandparents emigrated to Milan in the 30s of last century, when Veneto was still a very poor region.