IRL (In Real Life) is an ongoing photographic project that explores the identity and representation of Generation Z — the first to grow up in a world where real and digital life merge seamlessly, redefining boundaries, relationships, and forms of personal expression. Through a documentary and intimate approach, the project portrays young people within their most personal spaces — their bedrooms — juxtaposing these portraits with images taken from their smartphones: selfies, stories, posts, and screenshots that shape their online presence. Two visual worlds, one physical and one digital, intersect and overlap to authentically narrate the complexity of contemporary youth.
Lana, 16 - San Mauro a Signa, Florence She was eleven when, after long negotiations with her parents, Lana finally got her first smartphone. It wasn’t the most coveted model among her classmates, but it opened the door to a world she had only observed from the outside: social networks, group chats, shared photos. That small device meant something simple yet profound — feeling, at last, part of a group. Today, a few years later, social media has become an integral part of her daily life. TikTok is just a pastime — an endless scroll through short videos and fleeting trends — while Instagram has turned into a personal diary: a mosaic of profiles, from the most public to the most private, where she can choose who to show herself to, and how. “Only on my most private account do I feel free to really be myself,” she says. And yet, her most authentic space isn’t online. It’s her bedroom — headphones on, sketchbook open, a pile of books on the nightstand. Lana reads a lot, from young adult novels to heavier authors like Dostoevsky and Freud, who help her better understand herself and the world around her. She has a sharp awareness of the power of social media: she recognizes its creative and informative potential, but also the risks of conformity and social pressure. “They make you all look the same, they influence you — but at the same time, they open up possibilities that didn’t exist before,” she reflects. That’s why she imagines they’ll play a central role in her future too. “Social media are part of everyone’s life now — and they’ll only become more so,” she says.