Behind the Dream
A short distance from Rome's Grande Raccordo Anulare lies La Rustica, a neighbourhood built during Italy's 1970s construction boom. Illiteracy, economic marginality, and a daily illegality inherited rather than chosen still define life here.
The project began in 2015 on the set of I Was a Dreamer by Michele Vannucci, based on the true story of a man from the neighbourhood rebuilding his life after prison. Once filming ended, the work continued on the ground - through an extended stay within a family from the neighbourhood, aimed at closing the distance between the one photographing and the one photographed.
What emerges is not a single story, but a set of unresolved contradictions: the desire to leave, and the need to stay.
Behind the Dream remains an open project: a relationship renegotiated over time, giving the people photographed an active role in shaping the story.
The project began in 2015 on the set of I Was a Dreamer by Michele Vannucci, based on the true story of a man from the neighbourhood rebuilding his life after prison. Once filming ended, the work continued on the ground - through an extended stay within a family from the neighbourhood, aimed at closing the distance between the one photographing and the one photographed.
What emerges is not a single story, but a set of unresolved contradictions: the desire to leave, and the need to stay.
Behind the Dream remains an open project: a relationship renegotiated over time, giving the people photographed an active role in shaping the story.