Luca Cameli | Daily Life In The Port

2 Series:
Daily Life In The Port
& The Market And Memory
By Luca Cameli

Daily Life In The Port
San Benedetto del Tronto

This project captures daily life at the port of San Benedetto del Tronto (Italy).
Amid panoramic shots of the location, fishermen are shown unloading their fresh catch immediately after docking, while curious passersby look on.
Behind the scenes are the retari, retired fishermen who continue to contribute to port life by repairing fishermen’s nets.

Luca Cameli

Italian photographer and photojournalist Luca Cameli developed his photographic practice through reportage, drawn to the spontaneous expression of everyday life and to the authenticity that can emerge from a single, unrepeatable moment. His approach is rooted in a belief in the lasting power of photography to preserve a fragment of life, guided by his personal motto: “A photograph is like a diamond… it is forever.”

Cameli’s work has received international recognition through numerous exhibitions, selections, and photography awards. He was selected for the Triennale della Fotografia Italiana in Venice (2017), the Biennale di Milano (2019), the LYNX Prize (2019), and the Venice International Art Fair (2020), and was honoured by Spoleto Arte with several awards, including the Premio Canaletto and the Premio Jacopo da Ponte.
He was also the recipient of a Career Achievement Award from MACO Museum and was selected for the Festival DeSidera in Trieste.

His international recognition continued with distinctions from the MonoVisions Awards, PX3 Paris Photography Prize, New York Photography Awards, World Photography Cup, MUSE Photography Awards, London Photography Awards, Monochrome Photography Awards, European Photography Awards, Analog Sparks International Film Photography Awards, and Global Photography Awards, among others. His work has also been presented in exhibitions including FOTOGRAFIA ZEROPIXEL, Storie Di Un Attimo – Festival Popolare della Fotografia in Olbia, House of Lucie in Ostuni, and K-POP ART in Rome. His most recent recognition includes the Photo Journalism Prize 2026.

“Immersing myself in historic environments is extraordinary.
It allows me to absorb an enormous amount of knowledge and, in doing so, discover perspectives different from those I had before beginning the photographic story.”
– Luca Cameli

The Market And Memory

San Benedetto del Tronto Fish Market

This series on the fish market in San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy, began many years ago. It is the fish market of the town where I was born and where I still live.

I have memories of this place dating back to my childhood.
I remember the smells, the vendors’ voices and cries, the water covering the floor, and the pumps that kept the fish fresh. The noise intimidated me a little, yet I also found it fascinating.

Those childhood images remained with me and returned with great force when, as a photographer, I began to feel the desire to tell the stories of cities. But not only their stories.
One of the strongest reasons for undertaking this project was realizing how fundamental fishing is to the local economy.
The port of San Benedetto del Tronto is recognized as having Italy’s second-largest fishing fleet. Few people know these facts, and I felt it was important to share them from my perspective.
One morning, I went to the fish market, deliberately avoiding the earliest hours. I had studied the market’s rhythm and knew that arriving around 10 a.m. would mean fewer people and more freedom to photograph what I had envisioned. The corridors between the stalls are not particularly wide, and overcrowding would have limited both my movement and, above all, the clean compositions I was looking for.

I began talking with the vendors, listening to their impressions and observing their swift movements as they carried out their daily work—a demanding profession shaped by years of sacrifice. I soon realized I was equally interested in the customers and how they approached the market: some knowledgeable and confident, others less familiar with the products and seeking advice.
The light falling across the fish and the reflections on their surfaces became part of my visual exploration. So did the distinctions between scampi, lobster, and langoustine, and between the different varieties of prawns and shrimp. Details of the seafood that I had previously overlooked suddenly became fascinating.

I also took time to study the market’s regulations, where several definitions are established, including the general classification of “fishery products”—covering fish, crustaceans, bivalve mollusks, gastropods and cephalopods, whether fresh, preserved, or processed, as well as products derived from aquaculture or fishing intended for human consumption.

Researching the place’s history also helped me approach the reportage from a deeper perspective. I discovered that the foundations for San Benedetto del Tronto’s new wholesale fish market were laid in 1932, and that the market became operational in 1935.
It stands within the port area, only a few dozen meters from the northern Malfizia quay, where fishing vessels dock and unload their catch. Managed by the Municipality of San Benedetto del Tronto, the market now occupies about 9,200 square meters of open space and 1,500 square meters of covered space.

Website: www.lucacameli.it | Instagram: @lucacameliphoto
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