NISIDA: THE ISLAND OF SUSPENDED YOUTH (Yarin Trotta del Vecchio)
The conversion of punishment into an economy of suspended rights was one of the key moments in the evolution of modern penal systems. From that moment on, the re-education of the individual would act on their soul through the deprivation of liberty, understood both as a right and as a possession.
In Italy, more than 500 young people under 25 are held in juvenile prisons. The IPM of Nisida, on the island of the same name, is the juvenile prison of Naples.
The Institute aims to break the young inmates' tendency to idolise and imitate the behavioural models of local organised crime, and in recent years it has stood out for its pioneering approach to rehabilitation.
Alongside technical and educational workshops, the rehabilitation programme includes activities in close contact with the island's lush nature. These give the young people a chance to experience small moments of freedom and beauty despite their confinement. Nisida is in fact the only juvenile prison in Italy where inmates can swim in the sea.
Cut off from the world in the prime of their youth, the boys of Nisida have the opportunity to change their lives.
Yarin Trotta del Vecchio is a documentary photographer based in Rome.
Born in 1991, he began training in photography in 2014. In 2017 he completed a Master's in Reportage at WSP Photography in Rome.
His work consists mainly of long-term projects exploring social issues through an anthropological, field-based approach. He currently collaborates with NGOs and with Italian and international magazines.
His work has been exhibited and awarded in Italy and abroad at events including the International Festival of Photojournalism Vilnius Photo Circle, Prix de la Photographie Paris, Padua International Month of Photojournalism, Italy Photo Award, Cortona on the Move, Lodi World Report Award, RPS Documentary Photographer of the Year and POY (Pictures of the Year).
We make visibile what is still invisible