“Look, listen and then, try to understand” Ryszard Kapuściński

Michele Cattani is an Italian documentary photographer born in 1991 in Reggio Emilia.

Graduated in Cinema and Media Engineering (yes, it exists) in Turin, he could have ended up working in special effects… but no: he chose to report from the Sahel region. Just three days after obtaining his degree, he flew to Mali for a two-week stay: a little trip that, against all odds (and especially those of his parents), turned into eight years of life and work in West Africa. There, he covered regional news for AFP and collaborated with magazines, international newspapers, TV channels, NGOs, and United Nations agencies. Over the years, his work turned toward humanitarian and climate crises, migration, conflits, riots, and coups d’état, but also toward camel races, old Vespas and Mercedes in the Sahel, and Husky owners in the desert.

Speaking of the desert, in 2023, with Amaury Hauchard, they followed the gold trails of the Sahara and produced the report Sahara, la soif de l’or (Sahara, the Thirst for Gold), published by Les Jours, which won the Visa d’Or for Digital News at the Visa pour l’Image festival in Perpignan. They still haven’t found any gold, but they keep digging, keeping the project alive. In 2024, together with Anne-Fleur Lespiaut and Amaury Hauchard, they worked on the role of social networks in shaping dreams of the West, following the two main migration routes from Mauritania: the Atlantic crossing in pirogues toward the Canary Islands and air journeys to Latin America. When he isn’t chasing news, he is passionate about dreams. Literally. His personal project Daméléké, explores imagination, beliefs, and traditions around dreams in West Africa. Alongside his fieldwork, Michele has worked as a photo editor for UN News, organised photography workshops in Mali, and curated exhibitions on behalf of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). For the past few years, he has roamed Mauritanian tracks in an old Land Rover, as elegant as it is unpredictable, vehicle of undeniable charm and only relative reliability, a faithful companion in his adventures.