https://issuu.com/ilbollettino/docs/il_bollettino_asymmetries_22_eng_/s/17673950

Standouts & Poors

What really separates the richest and the poorest towns in the EU?

TEXT AND IMAGES BY ALESSANDRO GANDOLFI — PHOTOJOURNALIST

Wolfsburg (Germany) and Silistra (Bulgaria) are separated by 1,500 kilometers as the crow flies. But prosperity separates them more than distance. Wolfsburg is the richest town in the European Union, the one with the highest income per capita. Silistra is the poorest, the one with the lowest average income. The last Eurostat numbers are quite clear: in Volkswagen’s city you earn more than 140,000 Euros per year (five times the EU average), in the one along the Danube just 3,000. In Wolfsburg the minimum wage for a worker is 2,500 Euros, in Silistra less than 200. How is life in the two economical ends of Europe?

Wolfsburg (Germany), butcher Reno Thiele, 33 years old, at the counter of the butcher shop Gmyrek.

Silistra (Bulgaria), butcher Georgii Yordanov, 40 years old.

Wolfsburg (Germany), two kids playing with a robot in the Phano Science Centre.

Silistra (Bulgaria), a girl playing with a ride train near her mother.

Wolfsburg (Germany), the library of the Cultural Center designed by architect Alvar Aalto.

Silistra (Bulgaria), the council library.

Wolfsburg (Germany), Sinan Mehmed, chef of the restaurant Eat With Heart. He is a Bulgarian who has lived in Germany for two years.

Silistra (Bulgaria), Zarko Dimitrov, 49 years old, chef of the restaurant Sladost.

Wolfsburg (Germany), the entrance of CinemaxX.

Silistra (Bulgaria), the ticket booth of cinema Megaton.

Alessandro Gandolfi is an Italian photographer and journalist, co-founder of Parallelozero photo agency. His work has appeared in various newspapers and magazines, including National Geographic, Der Spiegel, Stern, Die Zeit, The Sunday Times Magazine, Geo, Le Figaro Magazine, D - La Repubblica delle Donne, Elle, L'Espresso, Internazionale, Le Journal de la Photographie... His pictures have been exhibited or screened in several personal and collective photo exhibitions, like the 2021 “Italiae. From the Alinari to the masters of contemporary photography” (Florence, Italy), the 2016 Photojourn Festival (Bangkok, Thailand), the 2015 and 2014 VISA Pour l’Image (Perpignan, France), the 2014 Angkor Photo Festival (Cambodia). He teaches reportage at Officine Fotografiche Milano, curated exhibitions, and attended conferences. He has also been member of juries and regularly holds photojournalism workshops and portfolio readings. In 2022 he is finalist in the Still Life Category at the Sony World Photography Award, in 2021 he won first prize in the Environment Story Category, in 2020 he won first prize in the Still Life Category at the Sony World Photography Awards and first prize in the Environment Story Category at the Best of Photojournalism Awards. In 2016 his work on the post-ebola situation in Sierra Leone won the PDN Photo Annual 2016 and a honourable mention at the MIFA. He has been finalist for the 2017 Italian Premio Ponchielli with the story "Standouts & Poors".

www.alessandrogandolfi.com