"Porta" is a project which includes a series of photographs that I took during last summer, while I was crossing the border between Italy and France following the illegal route known as il sentiero della speranza (the path of hope).

Traditionally, this path has been subjected to different waves of migration throughout history. In fact, the chances of being stopped and checked by policemen are considerably less than using the main road and other secondary routes. However, the path is less accessible in terms of the stability of the ground, and it requires considerable time and physical effort to complete the journey.

Initially, my intention was to investigate the consequences on people of migrating and moving. I asked myself: how do people change through migration? Are they the same individuals who started the journey?
Pieces of bread, clothes, shoes are the first things that I found. The more I walked and went deeper into the woods, the more the stories of the people who were there started to have details and shape into my mind. This contrast showed me what I really wanted to communicate with this project and that my main interest was to tell stories otherwise ignored.

When I finally arrived in France, I walked to the closest beach. Tourists and locals were enjoying the beginning of summer, continuing with their lives. I combined these two elements, traces of human presence on the path with touristic activity suggesting a dualist system of contrasts in which people coexist.