This project delves into the heart of this ritual, which stems from a pagan tradition where peasants constructed fires with domestic waste to celebrate the end of winter and seek protection for the new year ahead. However, the current iteration of the ritual has evolved into something different, with groups of children aged 6 to 16 taking to the streets in balaclavas, stealing Christmas trees and other items, and engaging in battles with gangs from rival districts. They guard the loot in secret areas within their territories until the day of the fire. This game conceals the systemic criminality and territorial attitudes typical of the region. If initially the project was focused on the ritual itself, it has later shifted into accompanying the participants into adulthood, following the evolution of their relationships and the development of their individual and collective identity.

This approach has allowed the research to explore important social issues intersectional to this demographic, including high rates of teenage pregnancy, crime, and unemployment that set the political undertone of this underdeveloped working-class environment. By confronting the traditional misrepresentations of the community, the work seeks to shed light on the vibrant youth living in this dark sociopolitical scenario, often condemned to a vicious cycle. The beauty of this community flows from a sense of belonging and mutual support that compensates for the lack of governmental infrastructure and counters the judgmental middle class closing its doors to them. They live in constant affirmation of their values as a whole community rather than as individuals. The photographs themselves aim to convey the naivety and beauty of this age while providing new ways to visually examine the subject of youth and identity, highlighting the issues affecting the south of Italy. The raw and intimate approach to this diary-like storytelling has been created by mixing 120mm/35mm film in color and black and white to escape the restrictions of a precise language, allowing beauty and grit to coexist.