I had accumulated a wealth of experience and shows from having worked with theater director Koji Miyazaki for years, and many stories to tell, but when I entered prison it was an unforgettable and powerful moment in my life.

At the start I was only supposed to photograph the show that was to take shape at the end of the prison workshop, but I jumped through hoops to get permission from the director of the Saluzzo prison to have access to the inside, also to follow the rehearsals, and then I went on to ask if I could document their private lives. I went back and forth for about three months, at first I stayed on the sidelines, then I got over my initial fears and began to make a connection with many of them. I started carrying my camera, I photographed whilst trying to maintain as much respect as possible for their lives and their time.

From that point on it became enjoyment tinged with bitterness, I became a confidant and this pleased me but every evening, upon leaving, my thoughts were overwhelmed with the idea of these concrete barriers separating society from those who have made mistakes and must be punished. It is easy to judge from the outside, but when you are on the inside and you listen to the prisoners and feel their pain they have suffered from birth, you finally understand that you too might be inside if you had been born into a different family, a different country, a different neighborhood, with those stories in your bones.

We became brothers, in prison there are no half measures, either you're a stranger or you're a brother.

I remember every moment and I will never forget, just as I will never forget how lucky I am to have been born in this part of the world.

Dimensions 24x36 cm.

Artwork taken from the work: "La soglia". Life, prison, theater.