Dillon Rana: The Old and the New: Abruzzo, Paglieta and Other Places • Featured by Nowness • Project info +

The Old and the New: Abruzzo, Paglieta and Other Places is a documentary photography series by Dillon Rana, created across the towns and landscapes of Abruzzo, Italy, and featured by NOWNESS.

Travelling through Paglieta, Lanciano, Fossacesia and Fara San Martino, Dillon documents a region suspended between tradition and modernity. Intimate portraits of local people sit alongside rural landscapes, family-run businesses and the evolving architecture of contemporary Italy, revealing the quiet contrasts that shape everday life.

Approached with warmth, curiosity and a keen observational eye, the series avoids a romanticised portrait of rural Italy. Instead, Dillon captures a living place in transition—where longstanding customs and close-knit communities coexist with development, industry and social change.

The project reflects the documentary foundation of Dillon Rana’s photographic practice and his instinct for finding character, humanity and cultural detail within ordinary moments.