Alberto Alpozzi before 2011 took photographs in his beautiful Turin, a valued professional and brilliant lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture, he decided to tell the life of those who wear a uniform and their work.
The first time in the 2011 our photographer arrives in Afghanistan with the Sassari Brigade, first, and with the Taurinense, after. Later Lebanon and Kosovo and finally set sail with a navy ship heading towards the Gulf of Aden, anti-piracy mission.
Alberto and I share an innate and immoderate passion for a land as distant as it is tumultuous: Somalia.
A land, Somalia, which gave Alberto a piece of wonderful History of our Italy: the History of Guardafui Lighthouse.
The lighthouse is immortalized for the first time in decades, just during the boarding with the San Marco boys involved in the mission Atalanta. It was just a dot, on a peak overlooking the sea.
Whether it was love at first sight or destiny, we do not know, but from that moment Alberto moves mountains and seas to find all that is possible on that lighthouse that has so impressed him.
The Faro Guardafui is a mysterious and equally unobtainable creature, the research work lasts two years, in which as a photographer, Alberto becomes a researcher.
Until the 1941 the lands on which the lighthouse stands were Italian. The late 800 expeditions of the first explorers who ventured into these unknown regions, years before we learned the word "colonialism", still echo in the air.
Here thousands of Italians lived, worked, fought, built, studied and taught, married and died there.
The lighthouse looks like a large 20 meter tall tower in the shape of a littorio beam.
Of course, finding a giant fasces that serves as a beacon in the middle of Africa raises some questions, the first of all is: how is this possible?
The fame of the African promontory that rises 244 meters above sea level, dividing the Indian Ocean from the Red Sea, has its roots in the mists of time when the Cape (Ras) was called by the Arabs "Ras Asir" where the word asir had two meanings: captivity and sadness. These two words indicated the probability of being captured by Somali raiders in the event of a shipwreck and the sadness of the misadventures that were encountered in that place.
The problem of shipwrecks near the Horn of Africa has always been, as it still is today, a crossroads of international traffic to and from the East, thus placing the need for the construction of a beacon useful to protect navigation. A necessity all the more felt after the opening of the Suez Canal, which took place on November 17 1869.
In 1889, Migiurtinia, the northernmost region of Somalia, corresponding to the Horn of Africa, becomes the protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy.
And it is precisely to Italy that the age-old shipwrecks and looting will have to be stopped at the notorious leader with the creation of the Guardafui lighthouse in 1924, after 50 years of international issues. Today, no longer functioning and forgotten on the African continent, it appears to be the highest littorio beam in the world.
Italy had already unquestionably set up a bridge of collaboration in a difficult land like the Somali one, a bridge that seems to have never stopped.
This year the history of the Guardafui lighthouse is published and the success is immense. The first edition of the book "Il faro di Mussolini" ended in just over three months.
A book with a provocative title that should not mislead the reader, the story that has been reported does not refer to the period in particular.
"The lighthouse has a history of more than 150 years, fascism lasted two decades, it would be useless to focus the story only on such a small historical period" Alberto confesses, calm of the fact that his book has nothing to fear in regards to criticism.
"One day, Alberto continues, I open the mails and one immediately catches my eye. I couldn't believe what I read: the governor of Puntland in Somalia thanked me personally for the book on the lighthouse.
I will not deny you the great emotion, an immense satisfaction, if from Somali he appreciated my work then something good I had done.
We make an appointment by telephone after exchanging a few emails, I would like to meet him and go to Him in Somalia but as you know it is a journey that requires time, authorization and a lot of organization.
The Governor does not get upset and in the end organizes everything to come to Turin to meet me.
While Alberto explains to me how we arrived at the 16 September meeting, his voice reveals all the passion and commitment spent over the past two years in the lighthouse project.
The arrival of Governor Abdulkadir Mohamed in Turin is the culmination of a work that has lasted more than two years and that has made us rediscover a piece of history forgotten by everyone.
This wonderful meeting, however, has not finished reserving surprises and so thanks to the help of the regional councilor Maurizio Marrone and the group Brothers of Italy, governor and reporter end up guests of the mayor of Turin, Pietro Fassino.
The work of a photographer who led to that of a researcher could also become a motive for collaboration between Somalia and Italy for Alberto, with the Mayor being enthusiastic.
A couple of phone calls were enough because yesterday - 17 Settembre - Abdulkadir Mohamed was also a guest of the two Turin companies Smat and Hydroaid both involved in the water sector.
It is hoped that the meeting may give rise to a synchrony of intent that will bring the two companies to work side by side for the water well-being of the Guardafui region.
The governor also made requests for the possibility of restoration of the old Italian colonial buildings, with particular attention to the old "Regina Elena" hospital in Alula and the Guardafui lighthouse in the hope of being able to make it soon a tourist place.
We hope that the opening of the city of Turin to the Puntland region will soon bring fruits to start collaborating with. If this synergy of intentions proved fruitful, nothing would forbid the Piedmontese capital to inaugurate a twinning with this little-known part of the world.
Relations between Somalia and Italy have been excellent since the days of colonialism and given the closeness that has always characterized the two countries, it would be good to support the development projects that are intended to be carried out.
From Somalia there is one of the most important migratory flows towards Europe and in particular towards Italy.
Improving living conditions in their homeland would allow Somalis to continue their lives without having to leave everything.
Alberto should be proud of the work he has done and what he will do, the lighthouse that has saved so many lives in his career now illuminates the new route between Italy and Somalia.
