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In the Aftermath


Sibillini mountains, Earthquake, ongoing





A year has passed since the severe earthquake that hit central Italy.
Broken mountains, lands almost one meter crumbled, collapsed buildings,
sheds and stalls with broken roofs, rivers that have changed course, roads
that have disappeared and a land that continues to shake.

The movement of the earth has also caused a movement of those who lived there.
The mountain community of the Sibillini Mountains is composed of many villages scattered over a very large territory.


Some are gone, someone tries to resist. The reconstruction will last 10-15 years
and the oldest will no longer see their homes. But citizens are trying hard to regain possession of their lives and their land.

This series is part of the collective documentary project  Lo stato delle cose.


Montegallo, Sibillini Mountains, Marche, Italy. November 2017. Stefano and Antonella used to live here after the 2016 earthquake destroyed their family home in Montegallo. Sometimes they still sleep here because they continue to work in Montegallo, but they no longer have a home. Montegallo, Sibillini mountains, Marche, Italy. November 2017. “The collapses are part of the story” says Mario, 70, one of the inhabitants of Montegallo. The construction of Santa Maria in Pantano took place after an earthquake, as well as its reconstruction after the shock in 1468. The church has always been a reference for the community of Montegallo and is a place where pagan and religious traditions have intertwined and stratified over time: it was not a coincidence that it’s called “church of the Sybils”, priestesses capable of predicting the future. Migliarelli, Montegallo, Sibillini mountains, Marche, Italy. November 2017. Luigi and Teresa were born and raised in Migliarelli, a fraction of the municipality of Montegallo. Their home was destroyed by the earthquake, but despite this, they decided to stay close to their land. They are aware of the fact that perhaps they will not be able to return to their home. Isola San Biagio, Montemonaco, Sibillini Mountains, Marche, on the road to the Sybil mountain. November 2017. Isola San Biagio, Montemonaco, Sibillini Mountains, Marche, on the road to the Sybil mountain. November 2017. Montefortino, Sibillini Mountains, Marche, Italy. November 2017. Cese, Montemonaco, Sibillini Mountains, Marche, Italy. November 2017. It's already been a year and Cese, one of the villages of Montemonaco most affected by the earthquake, is all surrounded by red nets. All the houses are now uninhabited and uninhabitable. This could make one think that there is no life. Instead, walking through the small streets you can see small plots of cultivated land, you can hear the animals and above all a bustle of cars that park on the dirt road, at the edge of the red zone. They are the inhabitants of the four families who lived in Cese before the earthquake and who return almost every day to take care of the animals and the land. It is not known if and when Cese will be rebuilt, but until now its inhabitants have not abandoned it: here life goes on and every morning little Cese awakens. Rigo di Montegallo, Sibillini Mountains, Marche, Italy. November 2017. The time has stopped at 30 October 2016 in Rigo. Almost all the buildings are unsafe, the streets have not yet been freed from the rubble, some houses seem to have imploded inside them, others appear to have been removed from the façade, leaving the voyeuristic feeling to enter the home private dimension. Montegallo, Sibillini Mountains, Marche, Italy. November 2017. Mario and Elvira have been living in camping for more than a year and will probably never come back to their home. Vallegrascia, Sibillini Mountains, Marche, Italy.
aislab 2020— Milan, Italy
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