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ReExistResistance: we often hear this word, but how many times do we stop and think about its meaning? From the Latin “re”, which indicates the repetition of an action, and “sistere”, which means to stop, this word speaks of those who fight, those who are dissidents, in continuous opposition to someone or something. ReExist is a project of the Ronin authors' long-term work, a visual manifesto, expressing the characteristics of how our reporters approach their work: being in the place, living it, listening, taking from the local to seek the global message.
The protagonists of ReExist have a name, they represent lives that challenge something bigger than themselves: war, injustice, climate change, etc. etc. ReExist changes over time, depending on the new stories that are sought, but its meaning remains the same, because like those who resist, this project also has a soul of adaptation. In these images, resistance becomes the core of existence: to resist, stand firm and hold on is the only option these people have to keep on living their everyday life. From resilience to climate change, to the resistance of those who fight for human and environmental rights, to the people involved with the tragedy of a conflict. A journey through laboratories where scientists are experimenting with alternative solutions to global warming issues, through the cities under shellings, where citizens have suffered occupation, and through the South American continent, where the selfishness of economic colonization threatens to destroy the soil and the lives of thousands of people. There are scars, on the skin of the people portrayed as in the devastated territories, but also ideas of the future, of alternatives, of possibilities that are the fruit of those who have turned a clash into a dialogue. ReExist is therefore a collective and choral work, where everyone has contributed, and this is the spirit of the Ronin project. Because we need to remember that, as said by Maria Cervi, a woman belonging to the Italian Resistance: “No achievement can be taken for granted, there is always someone ready to take it away. So resistance is not only a duty but also a necessity” |
Santiago, Chile A protester tackles a Paco (Chilean police) on horseback during a Chilean police crackdown on peaceful women's protests on March 8, 2020. One million and 450 thousand women took to the streets of Santiago to protest for their rights, against gender violence, and against the police who have been repressing the popular uprising against the government of Sebastian Piñera since October 2019.
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Moron, Argentina Adriana Toporovskaia in her house with her three twin daughters. She was the victim of many death threats by her ex-husband. She lived in a kind of prison, always scared to meet him despite the perimeter order issued by the judge against him, which forbids him to approach the women and 46 complaintes made by Adriana. Adriana recently due to a brain cancer.
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Verona, Italy During the pandemia of Covid-19, wildlife parks has to be closed for long time. The animals had to continue to be fed and to have their routine, despite the absence of visitors and economic incomes. In the picture: one of the Siberian tiger cubs born in the park in June 2020 is sleeping peacefully by the glass. In a normal situation people would flock to see the tiger so closely, a not as usual event.
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Barcelona, Spain Sara and Martina are an Italian couple of women that choose a clinic in Barcelona to realize their dream of becoming mothers. In the picture: Sara is getting herself an injection of the hormonal treatment that allows her to stimulate the ovaries to produce a high number of follicles. Six days after, there will be the pick up of the oocytes and then the in vitro fertilization. After this first week, the couple will came back to Italy and Martina, the carrier, will start her hormonal treatment. After about one month they will be back in Barcelona to do the transfer of the fertilized egg and finally start the pregnancy.
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Lviv, Ukraine Funeral at the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul in the center of Lviv. 3 soldiers of the 80th brigade were killed in the Mykolaiv region.
The city of Lviv in the western part of Ukraine became the main center of refugees from the eastern part of the country. It's estimated that more than 1,500 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the first five days of the war. |
Rincon de Chautla, Mexico Portrait of a community police mother and her child. Since the beginning of 2019, the criminal group Los Ardillos has ravaged the town of Rincon de Chautla with numerous attacks, forcing residents to defend themselves by joining the town's community police.
The wives and sisters of the men killed by Los Ardillos have decided to take up arms, causing great concern to the Guerrero state government, which has been unable to confront the tragedy. According to official statistics, approximately 1,200 people have been killed and at least 500 disappeared in the years that Los Ardillos have been in power in the Chilapa region. |
Yagaré Xingu, Brazil Detail of a dirty and hard-worked hand of an acai picker over a basket full of berries. Açaí, the fruit of the açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea), is the protagonist of one of the most recent cases of foods that are considered “superfoods” becoming a threat to the environment. The greater demand, as it is considered healthy food in diets, has had as an immediate consequence the increase of monocultures of the açaí palm to satisfy the global demand for the “superfood”, leading to a rapid loss of biodiversity and a change in vegetation inthe forests of the floodplains along the Amazon River estuary in the Brazilian state of Pará which is the largest national consumer and also the largest world exporter of açaí.
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Isla Maciel, Argentina A. cries abandoned in the arms of her boyfriend K. The only way to escape their daily horrible condition is love. Their relationship gives them strenght and confort from the lack of affects from the families and support from society. A. (14) lives with her mother, her sister (8) and her brother (7). Nobody knows anything about the father, the mother has been prostituting since many years. In 2016 there was a fire in her home. Her mother was working and she had the responsibility of the little brothers. It was a cold winter night, she went out with her friends leaving a candle lit by the bed of her little brother. The blankets took fire and he was saved thanks to F.’s intervention that pulled him out of the ames. Even today, F. remembers the feeling of his skin attacking on him. Her brother is burned on 85% of the body. An arm is deformed. A. passes from periods of addiction to periods clean. She prostitutes with the consent of her mother and her aunt to bring money home because she feels guilty of the fire. K. (18) lives between his father’s house, his mother’s and the A.'s. His brother (16) has a mental retardation and has never been to school. His sister (7) has problems in talking. His dad is very violent, he is s drug addict and he has abused him.
He frequently crippled his arms. Hip Hop is the only way out he has to escape the violence he daily lives.
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Trang, Thailand In Sikao Bay, the local community of Trang participates in a vital seagrass transplantation initiative. Launched in 2004, this project was born from the aftermath of a devastating storm that decimated the seabed, causing a significant decline in water quality and biodiversity. The young generation took the lead in restoring what was lost, and by 2018, the first seagrass planted began to flourish. Today, thanks to years of dedicated effort, the ecosystem is showing signs of recovery, with a promising resurgence of fish populations and improved water health.
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Bali, Indonesia Two local divers are deploying concrete structure in a new site for coral restoration in Jameluk. To restore the marine ecosystem damaged by unsustainable fishing the local NGO Perkumpulan Pemandu Penyelam Amed (or P3A), are building artificial reefs on damaged reef areas. P3A consists of mostly Balinese divers that are committed to marine conservation.
The first reef restoration projects have been accomplished with success in Jemeluk and Lipah. These are quite damaged reef areas consisting mostly of dead coral rubble, slowly being taken over by algae. There is hardly no possibility for a natural recovery of the coral reef. By deploying artificial structures on which coral recruits are transplanted, this once thriving reef can be restored. These artificial structures can variate in materials and dimensions, from concrete cubes to metal pyramid and meshes, to maximize the refuge area for different fauna. |
Donbass, Ukraine SPG-9 used against the Russian position. Donbass frontline with members of Svoboda Rossii.
The legion is part of the Ukrainian army and is formed by defectors from the Russian army and other volunteers from the former Soviet bloc operating in the Donbass region. |
Barcelona, Spain Sara and Martina are an Italian lesbian couple who, in 2017, one year after the Cirinnà law of 2016, had the chance to do join in a civil union. After that day, they started to desire to became mothers. Since in Italy is not possible for couples of women to access to PMA, they choose to go to a clinic in Barcelona and try the method ROPA (Reception of Oocytes from Partner). This method consists that one of the women, in this case Sara, “donates” her oocytes to her partner, Martina and, this last, hosts the pregnancy thanks to FIV. ROPA is a method chosen by many lesbian couples because it allows both mothers to have an active role in the pregnancy.
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El Pedernal, Chile Marileu Avendaño, agroecologist, ecofeminist activist and president of Conaproch, observes a series of private water collection pools for irrigation of adjacent avocado monocultures belonging to a private farm. The appropriation of water from the river or directly from the aquifer below the mountain range for private use is a sadly widespread phenomenon which has caused drought in the whole area, the drying up of rivers and aquifers with consequent irreparable damage to the area, ecosystem and the inhabitants who do not have drinking water for everyday needs.
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Genova, Italy During the pandemia of Covid-19, wildlife parks has to be closed for long time. The animals had to continue to be fed and to have their routine, despite the absence of visitors and economic incomes. The keepers, with the appropriate safety measures, continued to take care of the animals for the entire duration of the closure to the public. In the picture: One of the dolphin trainers takes a lunch break overlooking the tank of her favorite animal. Even if there were no visitors, dolphins had to continue training, six times a day, in conjunction with meal times.
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Villa Fiorito, Argentina Maira Gimenez in front of her aunt's house along with her cousins, Paola Gimenez with her youngest daughter and Sasha Gimenez (16) at the window.Maira studies and works occasionally in a soup kitchen for poor people.She attends a poetry course that is her great passion and plays football.She lives in Villa Fiorito from the age of five years where she moved with her mother, brothers and stepfather. At the same age he began to abuse her and her sister and beat the brothers. After her mother's death in 2013 the older sister of Maira gets engaged to her stepfather and one of the two brothers began to steal and consume Paco, a drug born after the Argentine crisis of 2001, which is derived from the spread of cocaine, it has a very low price and has a devastating effect on the neurological system. A few years later his brother was killed by a police officer, the investigation is still ongoing. In 2016 Maira lost her home due to a fire. Villa Fiorito is a one of the many Villa Miserias on the outskirts of Buenos Aires built on the banks of the Riachuelo river, one of the most contaminated in the world. Most of the roads are not paved, the streets are not lit at night, and some areas are used as open-air dumps. The pollution, the lack of running water, the malfunction of the electrical service, delinquency, drug trafficking and drug use are some of the wounds of this place.Much of the population lives in extreme poverty, is discriminated against because of his origin and has no access to employment. Nevertheless, the residents of Villa Fiorito try to organize themselves supporting each other, not getting any kind of state aid.
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Songkhla, Thailand Sea turtles are among the most impacted marine species by climate change.
While sea level rise and stronger storms erode their beach habitats, the rising temperatures can change ocean currents, potentially introducing sea turtles to new predators. Furthermore, according to several studies, exist a direct relation between the sand temperature where the turtles nest and the gender of the offspring. The sand temperature in-fact, influence the gender of the offspring during incubation, favoring the females birth and creating consequently a shortage of males. Since years the Royal Thai Navy is committed in sea turtle conservation activities. Thanks to conservation centers spread all over the country, they monitor and breed hawksbill and green turtles with the aim of releasing them in the sea increasing their population. |
Noli, Italy Nemo's Garden is the world's first underwater greenhouse system. Located between six and fifteen meters below sea level, its biospheres permit the cultivation of terrestrial plants underwater. This innovative system was created to research farming solutions for areas where growing plants may become challenging due to intensifying desertification.
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Alpuyecancingo de las Montañas, Mexico Portrait of Maryani with her nephew. Mayrani's brother, Benjamin, is one of the 43 students who disappeared in Ayotzinapa.
"We used to come to play in this field when we were children, I still come here with my nephew". Mexico is not formally at war, but it already has more missing persons than any other Latin American country in past or ongoing conflicts. |
Homel, Belarus Camera confiscated by police. Larisa, like so many journalists in Belarus, risks imprisonment as the Lukashenko regime crushes freedom of expression in the country: "For weeks we have been denouncing the intensified repression of democratic forces in Belarus. After administrative and criminal proceedings against journalists, the Belarusian dictatorship is now attacking the representative organization of journalists. It is high time that the international community finally takes action to put an end to the abuses of the illegitimate President Lukashenko," said Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, President of the International Federation of Journalists.
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Barcelona, Spain The medically assisted procreation for lesbian couples or for single women is forbidden in Italy. According to law no. 40/2004 (one of the most restrictive in Europe), PMA can only be accessed by adult couples of different sexes, married or cohabiting, of potentially fertile age, both living. This law has had many side effects, including the phenomenon called "reproductive tourism": citizens of countries where PMA is prohibited, go to other countries where it is permitted. Favorite destinations in Europe are Spain, Belgium and Denmark. However, these routes are very long and expensive, thus leading those who cannot afford them to try different (sometimes informal and unsafe) routes. In the picture: Martina and Sara, an Italian lesbian couple, is looking outside the window in the apartment they rented in Barcelona for the week in which Sara started the hormonal treatment.
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Dunoy, Philippines The local community of Dunoy releases a juvenile crocodile into a small creek adjacent to the Disulap River. The release of juvenile crocodiles into the wild is the culmination of the Head Start programme, which aims to improve juvenile survival rates and facilitate the recovery of the Philippine crocodile population. Crocodiles are a keystone species in freshwater ecosystems. The extinction of such an apex predator could have a profound impact on fundamental ecological processes. Since the programme's inception, the local community has consistently demonstrated an active commitment to protecting the crocodile and its habitat, restoring the population and maintaining the balance of the ecosystem.
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Petlacala, Mexico Members of a self-defense group in a poppy field. The self-defense group of Sierra of San Miguel claims to protect the local population from the criminal group Tequileros, specialized in kidnapping and extortion, while also taking part in the heroin business.
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Verona, Italy During the pandemia of Covid-19, wildlife parks had to be closed for long time. The animals had to continue to be fed and to have their routine, despite the absence of visitors and economic incomes. In the picture: a keeper is arranging enrichments for the chimpanzees. The "enrichments" are objects created to stimulate animals: by hiding food in handkerchiefs, providing them with clothes, straw or scattering peanuts and seeds in their ward, they are stimulated to actively search for food and to manifest natural behaviors. This type of activity is carried out by the keepers for the animals everyday, even during closure periods.
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Demak Regency, Indonesia In Timbusloko, the coastline is rapidly eroding as a direct result of deforestation, over-exploitation of groundwater and the rising tide of climate change. Once-protective mangroves have been cleared to make way for aquaculture ponds, while land subsidence, intensified by over- extraction of groundwater, has sunk the land further below sea level. As a result, the community is increasingly exposed to the dual threat of rising sea levels and extreme weather events. The sea now encroaches up to a kilometer inland, washing away fish ponds and infrastructure. In a desperate attempt to stem the tide, concrete seawalls have been built, only to fail when they block sediment transport and collapse into the soft mud.
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Demak Regency, Indonesia Abdul has been a fisherman for 37 years and still lives in Timbulsloko with his family despite the harsh conditions caused by sea level rise. Since the sea has moved inland, the wind has become stronger and fish harder to find.
Today, he spends more money on fuel for his boat than he earns. His house flooded for the first time in 2008, and since then he has raised it twice, in 2009 and 2019. The floods are getting higher, but Abdul doesn't have enough money to raise his house again.
His family wants to move inland in search of a more livable area and better opportunities for their children, but for Abdul, fishing is his life and he doesn't want to leave the place where he grew up. |
Cerignola, Italy Cooperative "Pietra di Scarto" in Cerignola: founded to welcome and reintegrate people with a difficult past. Many of its members were involved in criminal activities in Cerignola and, after serving their sentences, found the opportunity to work legally again.
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Buenos Aires, Argentina Women belonging to the movement Mumala (mujeres de la matria latioamericana) demostrate before starting the 'Ni Una Menos' march with a mask and a name of a victim killed in the previous months in front of the National women's department of the government (consejo nacional de las mujeres). 'Ni una menos' Is a protest movement against violence towards women that often ends in death. It was first manifested in eighty cities of Argentina on June 3, 2015, repeating itself in 2016, on June 3, October 19, November 25 and in 2017, March 8 (the historical international women's strike) and June 3. In 2016 In Argentina a woman was killed every 30 hours. From January 2017, the situation deteriorated further: today a woman is killed every 18 hours. The movement has also spread to other countries in the region as Uruguay, Chile, Perù, Mexico and in Europe. Coordinated from this movement, the strike was organized also in other 46 countries. Millions of women marched all over the worls to claim their rights and to protest against the violence they suffered.
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Scardovari, Italy Ghost nets are one of the major causes of the plastic pollution that plagues our seas. The cooperative among fishermen of the Adriatic sea, located in Scardovari (RO, Italy), won a European tender to carry out a twin project with Croatia which included the study of use of biodegradable nets in the sea. The study, lasted from 2015 to 2018, found that the types of nets used weren’t suitable for the open sea (they were too weak) but were excellent for the lagoon. In the picture: Marco, a member of the cooperative, is filling with mussels the “socks” made with these biodegradable material. Sadly, after the end of the project, even the efficiency of the biodegradable nets, no company wanted to start their production due their high cost, three times higher than the plastic ones.
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Shark Bay, Australia On the edge of the Australian continent where the far west coast meets the sea is the Shark Bay World Heritage Area.This westernmost part of Australia has a unique combination of wildlife, flora and stunning scenery unlike that found anywhere else. Believed to be at least 4,500 years old and measuring more than 180 square kilometers, the meadows of Posidonia Australis in Shark Bay, is classified the "biggest plant on Earth" as its clones form one genetically identical individual.
Since 1910, Australia has warmed on average by 1.4⁰C as a result of climate change. Especially from 2010 to 2011, Western Australia experienced a marine heatwave that saw temperatures rise by up to 5⁰C in some coastal waters. Due to this warming event, Shark Bay lost around 36% of the seagrass, with the ecosystem still recovering today. Damage to the seagrass is likely to have released some of the carbon locked up within it into the atmosphere, as well as affecting the animals it supports. Although large part of the Posidonia Australis meadow has survived extreme weather events in recent years, beginning its recover, there are concerns that it could perish as global temperatures continue to rise. |
Shark Bay, Australia Marley and Chae are two brothers grew up in the city of Geraldton, but descendants from Malgana Traditional Owners of Shark Bay. As a life choice, they decided to leave behind the city life and get back to their roots, moving to the land of their ancestors.
In Shark Bay they are working with Tidal Moon, an Aboriginal business involved in sustainable sea cucumber trade and environmental conservation. They say:"We have a fulfill feeling when we help to preserve our environment like our ancestors did. We want to make them proud of us". |
