Dark Youth - Photographic Documents of Cybergoth Youth in Italy, 1996-2001

Ragazzi di Strada presents 'Dark Youth - Photographic Documents of Cybergoth Youth in Italy, 1996-2001' a visual journey through previously unseen and unpublished photographs into the mid-'90s-to-early-'00s Italian Dark subculture.

The Dark scene was Italy’s own take on Darkwave, it was the way the Belpaese conceived and mixed a range of micro-subcultures spanning from Goth to Cyberpunk, and also including nostalgic New Wavers and Punk fans.

The photos, either shot or coming from the archive of scenester and co-curator Albert Hofer, are rare documents that portray the aesthetics and the way of life of one of Italy’s latest authentic youth clusters, before the crisis of subcultural identities that characterised the 21st century.

The photographs allow us to immerse ourselves into the day-to-day life of Dark initiates, in a journey across 1990s Italy, starting from Florence and culminating in London and in Germany, where many Italian teenagers chased an obscure object of desire made of music, fashion, countercultural attitudes and shared feelings.

The fact that these photographs weren’t shot by Albert for commercial purposes but for his own documentary and archiving aims, means that they are wonderfully genuine and precious documents coming from the privileged point of view of someone who was an integral part of the scene.

The photos, permeated by all the youthful joie-de-vivre and angst characterising young rebels, capture better than any words could the essence of the Dark scene. However, they resonate more contemporary than ever considering the ongoing attention given by youth culture to both the fashion and the themes related to 1990s and early 2000s Goth and Cyber culture.

The volume is divided into six chapters touching, through memories and anecdotes penned by Hofer, upon some of the most relevant themes of the Italian Dark scene of the times (including music, fashion, subcultural dynamics, politics,
sexuality and self-discovery, etc.), disclosing details essential to understanding this youth movement.

- - Limited to 66 copies - -

A project by Ragazzi di Strada
Curated by Lorenzo Ottone & Albert Hofer
Printed in Bristol (UK) by Mondo Erotico Publishing
92 pages
Black and white
Custome size (17,5x24,5cm)
First edition of 66 - April 2021

- - Ships from 26th April 2021 - -