China is second home to Alessandra.
She's travelled the country since childhood, visiting the most remote and wild corners, often cycling or hitch-hiking to get there. During a trip to Inner Mongolia, Alessandra travelled to the Alxa Desert Geopark in the Gobi Desert, which has the world's highest stationary dunes and more than 140 spring-fed lakes, and is a centre for the study of desertification. Climbing the highest dune, the oasis scene below took her breath away. 'I have never seen scenery like this: thousands of small, wind-moulded dunes sunk into one huge one, the scene doubled in size by the reflection in the lake, so that I felt lost in the middle of a huge ocean of sand. The only sounds were the soft whistle of the wind and early-morning birdsong. I felt regenerated.'
Switzerland
Alessandra's work centres on the heritage, customs, spirituality and daily life of Indigenous people who are strongly connected to nature and whose traditions are at risk of vanishing. Her photographs have been published widely in magazines as well as in four books: The Silk Road (2004), Mystic Iceland (2007), Hidden China (2008) and Il Coraggio di Esser Paesaggio (2011).
Help us harness the power of photography to advance scientific knowledge, spread awareness of important issues and nurture a global love for nature.
