Travel

To Live and Die in Naples

Kοινοποίηση

“In the background is the iconic Vele building of the Scampìa projects in northern Naples, a major theater of operations for the Camorra. One of the world’s largest open-air drug markets, Scampìa was also the arena for one of the most brutal Camorra gang wars—the so-called Scampìa Feud, which lasted from September 2004 to February 2005, resulting in more than 70 murders.”

Mario Spada is a photographer from Naples. In 1986, he started to work in his hometown as a photographer’s assistant for an agency that organized wedding pictures. From 1993 onward he documented various parts of life in Naples, from kids in the projects of the Quartieri Spagnoli to microcriminality and street dealers; from soccer hooligans to dogfighting to the Mafia wars of Scampìa. His pictures have since appeared regularly in Italian and international magazines such as

Videos by VICE

and . Every project he finished would end up in a metaphoric drawer, to which he’d add other projects in other drawers, until he had to buy a whole new filing cabinet altogether (still speaking metaphorically here, if you’re keeping track), when he found himself with what amounts to a photographic enyclopedia of the last 15 years of life in Napoli. These are the same 15 years that have seen around 2,000 murders linked to the Camorra. Sooner or later, Mario’s pictures will become a gorgeous, powerful art book that you’ll be able to leaf through and impress your friends with, but for now, we decided to publish some of our favorite pictures of his and ask him a couple of questions about his work and his city. Vice: What made you begin to photograph your city so compulsively? Normally photojournalists spend their time travelling to Burma and Nigeria and Nicaragua and other exotic, dangerous places.

Mario Spada:
What was your first specific assignment? How hard was it to get access to this world? But how did you gain their trust? I mean, almost all your subjects are criminals.

“ I took this on one of the first days I was in Scampìa. This girl lived in a state home. Both of her parents were in jail. That gesture with her hand means: ‘What do you want?’ I was struck by her beauty. She was acting like a grown woman, staring me down, acting strong.”

You shot a lot of work during the Mafia wars. Faida di Scampìa What do you think about the fact that the only times Naples is in the news or the media, it’s because of crime, or the Mafia, or some other disaster? When did you see your first body? And how many have you seen since then? Do the institutions help the situation in Naples at all? What about the police? “This was a police operation in the Torre Bianca part of Scampìa. They had been looking for that specific gun. I don’t know who told them it was there. That day they had to destroy some man-made anti-car barriers that the residents of Scampìa had built to stop the police from entering.” “Vincenzo Prestigiacomo, nephew of the Camorra boss Giuseppe Misso, was shot dead during a war between clans. He was executed in broad daylight, in the center of Naples, right in front of the eyes of dozens of petrified civilians, on the 30th of October, 2006. A woman who was in the bar right behind the murder scene suffered serious injuries to her legs during the shooting.” “This was a meat shop in Monte Rosa. The man on the ground was called Antonio Esposito. He was 60 years old and a relative of somebody who was in a Camorra family. He was killed for some faida or another.” “The street kids on the bike were following a horse carriage with two newlyweds, acting as their bodyguards until they left the projects.” “Scampìa houses more than 80,000 people. The Camorra’s control over the neighborhood is so complete that the Mafia installed armored doors in its alleys, which can be locked in case of police raids.” “I had gone to take pictures of a wedding where the bride was the daughter of a family of some very well-to-do loan sharks. The kids in the picture were small-time dealers, and they had come closer to look at the bride. Clearly, I couldn’t take their picture as they dealt.” “I heard something was happening out the window of my house and I ran to it and shot this picture. This girl had just assaulted an old lady outside the welfare office, trying to rob her of her pension money.” “This is a junkie that OD’d. The other junkies looked for his money instead of calling the ambulance. He’s shoeless because they thought he kept his money in his socks. They emptied his backpack too. What you see strewn on the ground are cards from that game Magic: The Gathering.”