Cartoline dall’altra Italia – Canaries: A photographer who captures happiness

From the province of Sondrio to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, passing through London along the way: this is the story of 27-year-old photographer Francesco Mazzucchi, who moved to the archipelago in 2010. A sport and nature lover, he is also very enthusiastic about his work. “I do what I am most interested in here. For me, photography was initially a duty (he worked in a camera shop). Later it blossomed into a true passion”. Francesco manages four camera shops in as many hotels on the island. “I work for an Italian agency, but I manage my own activities and have no small number of responsibilities since I have to manage a number of other people. We offer photographic services for foreign tourists, many of whom are German; but there are lots of English, Spanish and French tourists too. What we want is to leave our customers with a special memory of their holidays”. Francesco described his experience to “Cartoline dell’altra Italia”, a web series created by 9colonne with the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation’s Directorate General for Italians Abroad and Migration Policies. Like many other young Italians, Francesco has travelled a lot, even living in England for a time, but decided to set up his own business in the Canaries. He rules out coming back to Italy to work one day, although he is happy to come for a visit: “I have lots of friends, who travel often and are having their own experiences abroad. They almost all go home though. As far as I’m concerned, this is where my future is. I go home for holidays, even though – the young photographer jokes – my mom keeps telling me ‘this house is not a hotel!’. Managing a private enterprise abroad is not easy, but Francesco has no complaints about Spain; “I have never had problems with bureaucracy. Everything works well, even if waiting times can be a particularly long”. Cartoline dall’altra Italia roams the world in search of the new emigration; creating links with young Italians who, either for need or simple desire, have decided to try their luck abroad. Through their testimony, the web series keeps that invisible thread linking them to Italy alive. Each week features a new video-interview that can be viewed on the 9colonne.it website or on the Nove Colonne YouTube channel.