ISPA WINNERS 2022


PHOTO STORY

FINALIST


Jean-Marc Caimi e Valentina Piccinni


OPERATION SARNO

The Sarno River is the most polluted waterway in Europe. Flowing through the highly populated area opposite the Sorrento Peninsula, it impacts the lives and health of 2.5 million inhabitants, with spikes in cases of cancer among the local population. Chemical poisons are regularly spilled directly into the river by the leather industry and tomato canning factories, which are present on a massive scale. A century of political inaction, coupled with Camorra meddling, has made it impossible to find a solution. But recently a series of new interventions were launched to save the river, thanks to a joint project uniting private and institutional partners. Substantial investments from the European community, government and regional funds have been allocated to finance this massive project. Constant monitoring of poison levels, the construction of modern wastewater treatment plants, and a series of innovative sewage systems will trigger by 2025 an extraordinary environmental rebirth.






Biography

Jean-Marc Caimi was born in Paris in 1966 and Valentina Piccinni in Bari in 1982. They are a multi-award-winning photographic duo that focuses on documenting contemporary issues. They’ve regularly featured in major international magazines and they exhibit their work at festivals and galleries in Europe and Asia. Their long-term project “This land is my land” was published by the British publishing house Overlapse under the title Fastidiosa and is the most recent of their seven photographic books.

Jean-Marc Caimi e Valentina Piccinni


FINALISTS




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