About this website:

I am an independent journalist and photographer specialised in Middle East and Asia.
Watwaat, ‘bat’ in Arabic, is my personal website.

I decided not to call it simply www.naokitomasini.com, because my photography is about reality, not about me.
Hence, as a photographer I feel the need to be in the middle of things but almost invisible, just like a small black bat in the dark.

I am the copyright owner of all the images displayed in this website.
Thumbnails can be used freely on blogs and social networks, by quoting: © Naoki Tomasini/Watwaat.com


About me:

I was born in Bergamo, North of Italy, on August the 25th 1975 from a Japanese mother and an Italian father.

I have a degree in theoretical philosophy and, before starting my journalistic career, I committed myself to painting, graphics and art history.

In 2002 I went for the first time to the West Bank as a volunteer for the research center Palestine Monitor (founded by Mustafa Barghouti, the former minister of Information of the Palestinian national unity Government) and for the Alternative Information Center, managed by Israelis and Palestinians together.

Since 2004 until June 2009 I had been employed as a professional journalist for PeaceReporter, an Italian online newspaper and magazine dealing with conflicts and humanitarian issues edited by the italian NGO Emergency.
I was responsible for the Middle East area and for two years I also worked as a photo-editor.

During the last three years I have published written and photographic reportages from Nepal, Tibet, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, West Bank, Gaza Strip, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. I have also covered Italian issues, such as the life conditions of the Roma population in Naples during the waste emergency of 2008, and that of the migrants living at the margins of Italian society.

On June the first 2009, same date of the launch of Watwaat.com, I resigned from PeaceReporter in order to fully dedicate myself to feature photography for the international editorial market.

My aim is now to tell about contemporary conflicts, in the widest sense of the term, through images.
The following are the topics I am specialized in: refugees, migrants, religions and sects, women’s rights, drugs, trafficking, energy and environment.

I never travel embedded with armies because I think that embedded reporting is basically advertising for the war industries.
Moreover, since the age of frontline wars is over, and because war is today waged among civilians, I believe that the most relevant point of view should be that of the civilians themselves.

I always shoot in color, apart when using vintage cameras.
I love the sunrise light, dark places and windy days.
I have a passion for parallels between historical photos and contemporary ones of the same places or people.
Besides this, I can’t help matching my images in couples in the way that can be seen in my portfolio.


Contact me at:   naoki@watwaat.com  

 

“Since I grew tired of the chase and search, I learned to find; And since the wind blows in my face, I sail with every wind.” [F. Nietzsche]