Il Valore dell'Uomo

Curatorial Proposal

The photographic project Il valore dell'uomo aims to raise awareness about the cost of the food we consume every day. Starting with a tomato sauce priced at €0.39 from a supermarket in Northern Italy, the photographs travel through the Apulian countryside to investigate the phenomenon of caporalato. Caporalato is a form of slavery where workers in the agricultural sector are paid extremely low wages and live in inhumane conditions.

The images begin with the landscapes of Puglia, zooming in on the living conditions of the laborers, often immigrants. The tools they use, their transportation methods, and their living spaces are depicted with sensitivity, placing the visitor in the position of a silent observer. The strength of the series lies in the photos that show the laborers inside crates of tomatoes, creating a stark, dehumanizing comparison between the workers and the produce they harvest.

The concept behind the exhibition setup is to immerse the visitor in the harvest process. Using simple materials like fruit crates and plastic containers, the installation serves as both a support structure and a frame for the photographs. The use of these items is not just aesthetic; it reflects the materiality of the labor performed by the workers and allows for a better understanding of the size of the tomato crates for which a worker is only paid €3.50. The visitor and consumer are no longer in the comfortable and secure aisles of supermarkets but find themselves in the fields, under the summer sun.

Through this installation the project aims to make the viewer sit in discomfort in front of a reality often hidden, inviting them to act with a small gesture such as a more conscious food consumption.