Sardinia – a name that brings visions of turquoise waters, sun-soaked beaches, and untouched paradise into our minds.

But Terra Bruciata, the latest photo series by emerging talent Elia, reveals a radically different side of this Italian island.
et in Carbonia, a small town built by Mussolini for coal mining, the series strips away the glossy veneer to expose the raw, gritty reality of a forgotten chapter in Sardinia’s history.
Carbonia, now weathered and desolate, feels like an open wound—a place where the promise of industrial progress has long faded, leaving behind an eerie quiet.

Sardinia’s natural beauty vs. the hard truths of life in its southern shadows.

This isn’t the paradise we see on postcards; it’s a land scarred by abandonment and the unrelenting weight of history. With soldiers moving through the region and dominating large swaths of the landscape for military drills, adds another layer of complexity. The series, Terra Bruciata—“burnt earth”—is a visually arresting commentary on the contrasts that shape modern Sardinia: paradise and decay, beauty and control, memory and erasure.

This is not just a photo essay— It shows a Sardinia most of us never knew existed.