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Enjoying a foggy day in North Italy with my lovely cousin #simplethings #simplethingsoflife #italy #lombardia #belgiardino

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Sankt Petersburg, Russia

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Wonderful

Iran

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Romania

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Next year she will turn 100 years old.

Imagine, a century of history seen through these beautiful eyes.

I photographed her in Mumbai, India, a few days ago.

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Seems to be my story... Wonderful... It's incredible how you can feel so closer to women living in the other side of the world.. When I'm in my city, in my home ,in university, in the train my thinkings always go far away...

She’s Nastya, from Korolyov, Russia, in front of the small shop where she works, taking passport photos.

However her wish is to take landscape photos around the world.

Some time ago she made the first step to her dream, starting to study photography, while also working hard to make a living.

From the small shop where she works , her dream seems far away, but “far” was never a synonym of “impossible”.

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Linda is from Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, a republic in Southern Russia where ancient traditions mix with modernity and many women wear colourful scarves on their head.

While visiting this unique place a few days ago, I discovered a new city, totally rebuilt, but where memories of war are still alive.

In 2003 the United Nations called Grozny the most destroyed city on earth after years of terrible battles.

In one of these battles, Linda lost her father, who was accidentally shot in his way to work. At that time, Linda’s mother was pregnant with her second child.

Linda and her sister were raised by a single mother, in a time of war, but received a wonderful education. Today Linda studies medicine preparing to become a paediatrician.

This strong Chechen woman had a tough childhood and now she wants to dedicate her life to help other children in need.

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These days I’m in Berlin, Germany. Every Sunday afternoon, from spring to early autumn, thousands of people gather in Mauerpark to attend a famous Karaoke show where anybody can sing.

Anais, who is in love with music, was in the park last Sunday, wearing a beautiful African outfit. Born in France from a Malian mother and a French father, she moved to Berlin a few years ago.

When she’s in Mali, people say she’s white. When she’s in France, people say she’s black. But Anais always felt both African and European and loves the fact that she has such a diverse family.

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Cornelia is a two times cancer survivor. I photographed her a few days ago next to the remnant of the Berlin wall. It was the fall of this wall that made her move to the capital of Germany in the early 90s. She was a young journalist from the Western part of the country and Berlin was the place to be for her. As a journalist, Cornelia witnessed many historical events. At the same time, she gave birth to two beautiful children and always had a healthy lifestyle. But 8 years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer, for the first time. This terrible disease affects millions of women, all over the world. After a lot of suffering and struggles, Cornelia defeated the cancer. Then, two years ago she was again diagnosed with the same disease. And again, she beat it. Today Cornelia feels privileged for every second of her life. She enjoys the sun and the rain, the hot days and the cold days, while riding her bicycle around Berlin. She encourages her children to make to most of their life, to travel the world, help people in need, learn foreign languages and understand the diverse cultures of this beautiful planet.

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Carla has a fish stall in one of the markets of Lisbon, Portugal. Each day she wakes up at 5 in the morning, for her work. In the afternoon she takes care of her brother who has special needs.

When she started to tell me about the love of her life, her eyes became wet and she couldn’t continue.

There are millions of beautiful hard working women around the world. They are not famous and you will never see them on the media, because their stories and dreams are unknown. But each of them is a star in her own family or community.

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Bravest women #respect

I had the chance to talk with many wonderful women while visiting Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, a few weeks ago. In Azerbaijan equal rights between man and women are granted by laws but in reality there are still many couples where the husband decides for her wife. Some women told me that they need permission from their husbands, if I want to photograph them.

Things are changing though.There are more and more Azerbaijani women who fight for gender equality.

Fidan is one of these amazing women who would never start a relationship, if she wouldn’t be treated equally and respected.

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I met Daniela in one of the markets of Milan, Italy, a few weeks ago. She works around 10, 12 hours, everyday.

She didn’t have an easy life. She moved to Milan from Southern Italy and over the years she went through three miscarriages and one divorce.

But all the pain and hard work didn’t stop her from being an optimistic and warm-hearted person.

Beautiful people like Daniela don’t appear on the covers of magazines. But they appear everyday on the paths of our lives. We just have to open our eyes and see them.