Tommaso Rada

Tommaso Rada born in Italy in 1979. From 2005 to 2016, before moving to São Paulo (Brazil), he lived and worked in Portugal. His work explores the socio-economical issues of the surrounding society. Without forgetting his photojournalist identity, with his works Tommaso search for the reasons of society’s behavior and “configurations” trying to scratch the surface of the issues.Tommaso’s works have been published in several magazines and newspapers such as Courrier International, DerSpiegel, Financial Time, Washington Post, La Stampa among others. Tommaso’s projects have been awarded in several photo competition and grants awards like Estação Imagem award, Moscow International Foto Award, Natural Density Award, Sony World Photography Award, Manuel Rivera Ortiz Foundation for Documentary Projects, APAD Backyard Storytelling Grant and FotoVisura Grant for Outstanding Multimedia Project.

Back to South

Since the creation of the European Union, one of the goals has been the unification of the different countries belonging to the EU and the abolishment of the frontiers between these countries. In 1990, the Schengen Agreement finally eliminate the borders between European countries.

As of recent separatist movements have grown across Europe, while the economic differences between the European countries increase. The foreign politics aren’t common for all the countries. In a period in which Europe should consolidate his union new obstacles and challenges appear.

In the last year, the concept of a “two speed Europe” became a plan in which several countries belonging to the European Community belief. The “two speed Europe” plan is the idea that different parts of the European Union should integrate at different levels and pace depending on the political situation in each individual country, most of the countries progressing with a slower speed would be the south of Europe ones; if for some countries it would resolve the problems of Europe, for others it would complete the collapse of the Union.

The Europe without the south would be like a castaway that lost his memory. The ideas and the reasons why Europe get united are included in the remote and more recent past of the countries from the South of Europe. Despite most of the Europeans Countries that suffer the economic crisis are from the south of Europe, southern countries have a complex and dynamic reality where positive and negative aspect get mixed together.

The borders of the European Southern Countries are the periphery of the periphery, where contradictions become normality and where new ideas born from necessity. The borders are where the symptom of the ” European sickness ” can be more visible but are also the place where experimentation and new ideas are raising, a place from where a new energy to rethink the European unity could spread all over the continent.

To view more of Tommaso’s work please visit his website.