Scars

[Quentin88]

Have been 34 years since the earthquake that destoyed most of Irpinia...
Yet most cities are still full of "scars", old buildings half-destoyed and abandoned... Why? Because people who inhabited it died in the earthquake, or flee in another country etc. and the cities administrations can't sequester a private propriety for abandon before 50 years... In some case the house are lefted like that because the financial help from the goverments and associations just "disappeared" ... If you think that those "scars" are just in outskirts or suburbs of little and forgotten towns, well, you are wrong, these pictures have been taken in the main city of the region (Avellino) in the downtown/inner city.

Now you can undestand how much contrasting feeling I have about these shots. Criticisms and comments are welcomed

[John 2]

This is pure reportage and good photography. Good work Pellegrino. Has there never been any attempt to right the wrongs caused by the corruption? If the sums involved can be attributed so precisely, there must be a fair amount of evidence around.

[IzzieK]

It can be anywhere, Pelligrino -- this scene is similar to a once successful city here in the US --- Detroit.

[flashback]

Greed always seems to override compassion, especially when it's government money.
Great, but very sad, images. We're looking at what was people's lives, homes, memories, as if the loss of life wasn't enough, there's the loss of funding to repair the damage.

[Quentin88]

This is pure reportage and good photography. Good work Pellegrino. Has there never been any attempt to right the wrongs caused by the corruption? If the sums involved can be attributed so precisely, there must be a fair amount of evidence around.

Yes there have been various attempts to get back the money but Italy goverment isn't properly a fighter against corruption...
I make you some examples:
- Italy justice is really really slow, full of written law (the civil law system), bureaucracy etc... that for leave as less missinterpretation or abuse of those laws and to garantee the max justice, saddly that often give the opposite result. In Italy there is a juridical principle called "prescrizione", statute barred in english i think, so that if X years have been passed since the crime than you can't be judged, that principle was intented to guarantee to the accused/indicted to have a proper defence since after too many years of trial papers and documents could get lost, witness memories couldn't be trustworthy anymore etc. And was a good juridical principle till Berlusconi, to save himself from trials, halve the years before that principle could be used. So, gettin back to the earthquake: many culprit have been found but... they can't be judged.
- The money stolen from camorra (the name of the regional mafia) often are gave back to comunity through sequester: camorra propriety get confiscated and than gave back to association for "social progress", the thing is that often those association are fake and of camorra propriety too, so now camorra not only have is good back, but "cleaned" too, that propriety is now legal.
- Most of the money get stolen from banks strongly linked to powerfull politician and it's pretty hard to get money back from people than can change the law as they want and have immunity

Corruption is so rooted in Italy that I think the only way to get free of it would be a revolution as in Arab Spring. But why corruption is so rooted? Well that is a complicated topic but I blame the pandemic laissez-faire of the second postwar period, in that time in Italy get spread the idea that laws was just a "suggestions", an "advices" that slowed down too much the "smart and artful" business man that so could "trick" the law for the profit and for the progress. In that time borned the adage "Made the law, find the scam"...

Sorry for all the text, here is a funny video as apology

[bnnrcn]

Images are a bit dark,but darkness go well with the mood,sadness.

[Shadowman]

Nicely composed.

[Gigi71]

I think your images mirror the sad history of Italy's politics and the inhuman position very accurate, could be such a much more wonderful country without those chapters and background. Good captured.

[Donald]

I think your images mirror the sad history of Italy's politics and the inhuman position very accurate,

I think that is an excellent commentary on these images. You have done excellent work in making an important social documentary record.

[John 2]

Sadly Pellegrino, no country is free of corruption either in the community or at government level. We have had our share in the last few years. Out of interest, "prescrizione" sounds to be what we would call a "Statute of Limitations" but here, it doesn't apply to every type of crime.

[Quentin88]

Thanks everyone for the comments

Sadly Pellegrino, no country is free of corruption either in the community or at government level. We have had our share in the last few years. Out of interest, "prescrizione" sounds to be what we would call a "Statute of Limitations" but here, it doesn't apply to every type of crime.

Of course everyplace have is own probelms but try to compare the David Laws scandal or Liam Fox resignation to the "Berlusconi's Bunga Bunga Party"... If Dispatches would have set it's trap for the "cash for influence scandal" in Italy you can be sure than ALL the parliament would have get involved. I have a deep love for UK and maybe I don't see things objectively but, let's say you want to frequent Fine Art University in UK, at Edinburgh or Glasgow, you write your essay, send it to UCAS, than you get contacted from the universities, you send another short statement with a little portfolio and some documents to them and cross your finger... In Italy? You have to phone to the university admission center, take an appointment and talk to someone that say to you "You should do a "private donation", if you know what I mean, if you want to enter, plus is "highly advised" to partecipate to workshops that teacher hold as private if you want to pass the exams". You want to report the thing to the police? The police say "Meh, it's normal, that's how thing work, plus those people do it because "they know other people" (I hate this sentence so much and I have listen it so much than you can't image), what we should do? Make an investigation? Do you know how much people could get without a work, how much family destroyed... and how much other student that have paid and that will end without a degree, what should we do? Protect you 24/7 from those guys? Because you know that they will come to get you, you know it, right?"

And our costitution say that education have to be free and ensured to everyone...