Un Mondo Proprio, translated into English as A World of One’s Own, is an exploration of women in their twenties in the southern city of Naples, Italy. The work evolved gradually as I began to understand more about the city I grew up in. As it unraveled, so did my fascination with its contradictions—how the city holds both beauty and chaos, liberalism and conservatism, freedom and repression—all somehow coexisting in the same space, in constant tension.
What began as a personal journey slowly developed into a photographic exploration of more intimate and political themes, becoming a reflection on identity, power, and the right women have to take up space and assert themselves.
The women photographed represent a small portion of a larger group who navigate a city shaped by centuries of Catholic legacy, patriarchal structures, and rigid gender norms. Naples’s history is steeped in immense cultural heritage, religious symbolism, and deep-rooted conservatism. Statues of the Virgin Mary are scattered throughout the city—standing on street corners, peeking from balconies, painted on walls. Her image is ever-present and consistent across the cityscape, quietly dictating ideals of purity, sacrifice, and silence.
Beneath this veneer of reverence lies a legacy of repression—a system that has long told women how to behave, what to wear, and when to speak.
It was within the context of these discoveries that I began photographing women from my own community—some close friends, others acquaintances met at parties, in clubs, or through shared spaces. What connected them all was a quiet strength, a refusal to shrink themselves to meet the expectations imposed on them. These portraits are the result of many shared conversations, silent moments, and mutual trust. The images reveal private rituals—women getting ready in their bedrooms, applying makeup in dimly lit bathrooms, listening to music alone, looking at themselves in the mirror. These are scenes rarely witnessed but deeply meaningful—instances where the self is not performed for others, but shaped from within.
In Naples, the street is public, loud, often male. But in the solitude of night, within the walls of their own rooms or the glow of nightclubs, these women create alternate environments—worlds of their own where they reclaim their bodies, their presence, and their sexuality. The act of dressing up, of painting one’s face, of moving through space adorned in color and glitter, becomes more than aesthetic—it becomes a statement. In a city where women have historically been asked to make themselves small, these women claim space. They are not waiting for permission. They are already here.
Fashion, in this context, is not frivolous. It is deeply political. It is how these women assert control over their image, influence how they are perceived, and shape their sense of self on their own terms. Their choices—short skirts, bold eyeliner, glitter on their cheeks—are a refusal to conform to the imposed modesty of religious tradition. They are saying: “I exist. I am not here to make you comfortable. I am here to be acknowledged, as I am.”
The power of these spaces lies in the constant negotiation between societal expectations and personal truth. This book is, above all, a tribute to the women I photograph—women who, through vulnerability, joy, and self-awareness, are carving out new narratives in a place that has long tried to write theirs for them.
Un Mondo Proprio is not only about the individuals captured in these images; it speaks to a wider, often unseen network of women who are actively redefining what it means to live freely in a world that has historically sought to limit them. These portraits are not outliers. They are part of a broader, collective force—one that insists on being recognised.
The images serve as both reflection and revelation. They reflect those who recognise themselves in these gestures and moments, and they reveal a world to those invited to witness it—a world not theirs to define or shape. Above all, this work exists as a space claimed by the women within it: a world of their own, where identity is not granted through approval, but articulated through presence, expression, and autonomy.