In photos: Youth culture in Milan’s last working-class neighbourhood

Back in 2018, Mattia Zoppellaro moved to Giambellino, one of Milan’s last working-class neighbourhoods. It was unassuming then, filled with local bars, classic diners and family-owned shops – cafe owners would greet the photographer by name when he walked in, he tells Dazed, which reminded him of Lendinara, the small northern Italian town where he was raised.

In his series Giambellino, Zoppellaro both pays homage to the neighbourhood and documents how it has changed in recent years. He started in 2021, after the Covid lockdown period, and shot the area’s longstanding condominiums, shops, parks, playgrounds, schools, and institutions. But mostly, he photographed the youth living there; the foreigners who emigrated and built their families, and the Italians, like himself, who chose to stay for good.

For Zoppellaro, the process brought him closer to finding the community he’d always been looking for, and his subjects often confided in him. One of them was a young Filipino migrant who, in Giambellino, was able to venture into music and tell his story. “I want to inspire others to believe that no matter where you come from or how difficult life gets, hard work, discipline, and faith can turn dreams into reality,” he told the photographer.

Even if some may resist it, Zoppellaro welcomes the area’s growing diversity – many of its young people now come from different backgrounds, he says, including Arab, African, and Pakistani. “Young people are the future, and we Italians have a low birth rate. We’re an old country with a lot of old people. I think it’s necessary to have new, fresh energy from other places,” he says. “I’m totally pro-immigration, and we should make it easier. We should help people who want to come here, because it’s always a good thing to have other cultures arriving and learning together how to live better.” 

But the district is in danger of becoming too expensive to maintain the diversity that has made it so special. This has already started: alongside newly built Metro stops, there are modern tattoo parlours, model agencies, brunch clubs serving expensive small plates and refurbished apartments with upscale interiors. Zoppellaro cites Via Solari as an example, which two decades ago looked like a road to nowhere. “Today, it’s lined with luxury brands like Fendi, Moncler, and Harley Davidson,” he says. High-rise lofts now loom over Via Savona, the next street along from his own.

Zoppellaro fears that gentrification is already stripping away the area’s historic identity, and risks making it impossible for younger generations to live there. “I prefer to have people here who were born in the neighbourhood, or who, like me, genuinely love living in Giambellino and don’t want to change it too much, because it’s something that has to be protected. We need places like this in Milan, but now developers can just come in and conquer. They don’t care about what was already here. They can even push people out of their homes,” he says.

Still, the photographer is hopeful for the district’s future, that te residents will fight to keep its diverse community and distinct identity. As a firm believer in multiculturalism, he’s learned a lot from the local migrants he hangs out with, from the people of all ethnicities, religions and walks of life who have made their home in Giambellino. That deep affinity and affection shines through in his work.

Mattia Zoppellaro is a photographer and visual artist based in Milan, Italy.