Tobias Zielony

The C.P.A. (The Street)

Photo-Animation, 2013

Via Sant'Alessio in Borghesiana marks the extreme outer border of the city of Rome. At the end of the street, there is a Reception Centre for Unaccompanied Foreign Minors housing around 40 young men, mainly from Bangladesh. Their routes to Italy were adventurous and often expensive and dangerous, and now they are taking their first steps towards finding a job and a place for themselves in a difficult social and legal environment. Some of these young men sell cheap gadgets such as laser pointers and sunglasses to tourists. My photographs from Borghesiana utilise these flashing light sources to reflect on the challenges of visibility and invisibility facing these young people in Italy’s dominant culture.