May 1st, Labor Day: it is a workers' tradition to hang a red flag to a poplar tree.

Pictured is Egidio's carwash in Laurenzana, near Potenza. Cars are crucial for the region, as public transport isn't developed at all: they imply freedom for whoever lives in the region. For this exact reason, in this area automotive-related jobs aren't touched by the financial crisis.

The "passerella" is a special boat designed with a long stem, suspended 25 meters above water, where fishermen lie waiting to catch swordfish 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.

Naples, "Centro Direzionale". The administrative center of Naples was the most important investment planning in Campania in the years 80/90. With its construction, the geography of work areas within the city of Naples has been redrawn. The city acquired an attractive eccentric pole in a suburban area, decentralizing the flow of traffic and business.

By 2009, bankruptcies among Italian factories have increased dramatically, involving most of all mechanical (28,6% out of total bankruptcies) and steel (56,9%) plants. Northern Italy has been particularly touched by this boost: +25 % of bankruptcies (according to the observatory on entrepreneurship crisis in the fourth trimester of 2009).

The commander of the "Eagle" maneuvers to the spot in the Gulf of Trieste where he's going to do his overnight fishing.

Rome. Workers from the Omega plants during an unauthorized protest in front of Palazzo Chigi, seat of the Italian government.

Bragno di Cairo Montenotte, Savona. Railroad section linking coal deposits to the cokery.

My parents have been the owners of a little textile factory for 30 years. Since I was a child, this plant and the people working there have always represented the ethics of work: family owned, based on respect and loyalty, giving their workers job security and trust. Messages that are probably going to disappear: these factories, once flourishing in this area of Lombardy that was well known for its wholesalers, are going to disappear one by one. Here's to those workers who still survive.

In the "Tancredi" travertino (marble) cave in Ascoli Piceno.

Frosolone (province of Isernia): shepherds make cheese.

The dump in Mattie, in the Susa Valley, was the first in Italy to reach and exceed the Objectives in the Kyoto Protocol, with zero emissions by 2012.

Cement industry in Barletta.

Silius, near Cagliari. In this very poor area, miners are still working to extract fluorite from the last active pit.

The Lo Grasso farm is in the Palermo district, not far from the smalltown of Balestrate: six workers manage five hectares of land, harvesting different crops. Gaspare Lo Grasso, an agronomist, and his father are the owners of the land. A Tunisian man, a young Sicilian woman, a Sudanese young man and an Indian man are all regularly employed to produce organic fruits and vegetables. The farm has been a partner of the Cooperativa Agricola Vita Bio, investing in the Gruppo di Acquisto Solidale, a solidal purchasing group. The farm has been supplying six groups in Palermo for a year now, with fresh produce reaching collectively 150 families.

The city of Prato has become a symbol for the global crisis hitting Italy: once the example of a healthy textile manifacturing and exporting industry, nowadays counting an increasing number of closing factories and unemployed workers (due, they say, to the arrive of Chinese wave and a lack of aimed investments). I chose to show a factory that, notwithstanding lower rhythms in its production cycles, is still giving work to people and life to fabrics.

Bar da Picchio, 11 San Quirino Street Bolzano. Milko has been working for the bar for slightly more than a year, he has a regular contract but he is paid according to the bar’s needs and requests and he enjoys it because he likes staying among people. He was socially committed for a Cooperative in Bolzano and he would like to follow this path. He likes Bolzano, he believes it is fascinating because of its multicultural aspect.

Truck trailer construction.

Immigrant worker in a cowshed.

Niccolò and Luca are the elders among four children. Their family lives in Peschiera del Garda. Helping is crucial to the household, and often kids consider housekeeping as a game.