Here comes the sun

I grew up in the Tuscan countryside, near by Arezzo, more precisely in Terranuova Bracciolini, a small town in the Valdarno valley.
Even though it was a tiny place, during my teenage years, it made me feel grown-up and free. I got to know Terranuova and its surroundings with my friends, riding around the valley on our scooters. As I grew older, I started interacting more deeply with the spaces, places, and people around me.

I remember my adolescence spent hanging out in bars, playing cards, and drinking Estathé. In summer, we’d spend whole days at the local sports field, lollipops in our mouths, playing Puzzle Bobble and picking songs from the jukebox. There were first kisses by the river, and our first joints, hidden away in the secluded corners of the countryside.
Our lives revolved around our group of friends, our dreams, school, summer jobs, and family. Life, my life, our life, moved forward between bars, an outlet mall, the countryside, and a nightclub.

Starting from my own experience growing up in Valdarno, this photographic project focuses on the everyday lives of teenagers in Casentino, another area of Tuscany in the province of Arezzo. It explores their experience of growing up in a provincial setting. I wanted to understand how these young people interact with the spaces, places, and people that shape their daily lives, and what it means, today, to come of age far from urban centers.
What places do they hang out in? Where are those hidden spots where first kisses happen? Where are the secret spaces where they first seek freedom from their families?

I photographed teens in their search for freedom, by the rivers, in the hidden alleys of small towns, in the countryside, and also in their bedrooms, those safe temples that speak volumes about who they are.