z3nki's life updates diary.

glimpse into my life, it's entertaining sometimes.

work: imola ferrari challenge.

posted on 15/11/2025.

last week i was hired to work as a track photographer in imola, for a ferrari challenge team's private track/test event. not much to talk about, but it was a good day. I love doing track photography, and I'm trying to make it my full time job.

I got up super early to meet with my boss at 4:45, to then drive to the racetrack.

the day was just dominated by the 296 challenge, which i think is a gorgeous car. it's small, light, really nicely proportioned with simple lines and gorgeous shapes, and very quick. it was cool to see them rip on track!

I think i'm the first ever person to shoot ferrari challenge cars with a palm camera, at least in the last 20 years.

flashback: ukraine.

WORK IN PROGRESS. posted on 3/11/2025.

earlier this year, in may, i hopped on the longest train ride of my life and went to kyiv, ukraine.

getting to ukraine was not straight forward, or simple, or fast. after a two hour flight to krakow, we walked around the old town for a few hours until our train to przemysl, on the ukrainian border. the first train ride was pretty smooth, and we managed to get some sleep tht we sorely missed in krakow.

once in przemysl, we got some breakfast at a really pretty cafe in the station, and then headed for the fenced off part of the station with the the polish-ukrainian border. there, after a quick documents check, we boarded our ukrainian railways train to kyiv, which would take 10 hours to get there, with an extra hour holding right outside lviv for passport controls by the military.

of course, our journey was not one of tourism, but as part of an aid and support initiative by an italian political action group, Europa Radicale. when there, we met with government officials, saw the scars of war in places like Bucha and Irpin, and delivered humanitarian aid to the kyiv hospital, which would then distribute it where it was needed. also, the politicians that came with us were there to get a picture of what is needed from europe to continue supporting ukraine's struggle for indipendence, and what to push for in italian and european politics.

while there, i had the pleasure of meeting two italian volunteers fighting in ukraine, callsigns "mega" and "polo", who have set up a non profit organization to help volunteers and those in need by the front lines, associazione stur, which i strongly recommend you check out! i have become good friend with these two guys and i can vouch for them being amazing people fighting for all the right reasons.

kyiv is a gorgeous city. it is modern, it is historical, it has an incredible energy and, despite the tragedy of war, the constant threat of missiles and drones, the sleepless nights riddled with air raid alarms, it has a strong desire to continue to live, to grow, to build, despite the very visible scars of war. i miss it, and the people i met there, very much.

corners of kyiv, shot on my dsi.

it was heartbreaking to see such a beautiful city and an amazing people suffer so much in this war, and it's infuriating how irrelevant the situation in Ukraine seems to be to most of the population back home. the selfishness of people that believe the suffering of millions to be less important than a 2 euro increase in their electricity bill because of sanctions on russian gas makes me feel ashamed to be Italian. However, it's inspiring to see the resilience of ukrainians that still live, work, create, enjoy their lives, their passions etc under the constant threat of missiles. life goes on, even in such dire circumstances.

i'd like to thank comitato ventotene for helping me out with the planning and funding of this trip. ukraine's struggle matters. continue supporting ukraine, fighting russian propaganda, and believing in liberty and democracy over occupation and authoritarianism.

flashback: tomodori.

posted on 3/11/2025.

last june, me and the rest of the drift series italy gang were invited to the tomodori drift event in france. our boss decided to take his mk3 supra d car to drive there, while me and the rest of the guys came along for support. also my friend tripi came along from romania and didn't steal anything, against all stereotypes. love u.

the event was insane. drivers from all over europe, some of the coolest drift cars i had ever seen, all wrapped in the sickest setting i've ever seen for a drift event, an abandoned military logistics base full of hangars, wide roads for trucks and aircraft, and old school brick buildings.

the driving was top notch from everyone, with a mix of new faces on their first track day and drift scene legends ripping perfectly built and styled machines down the track, making an insane show for everyone in the gallery. the track itself wasn't that special, just a big skidpad with a simple layout with a niipatsu segment leading to a big entry, a second straight and then a way out. however, the atmosphere was incredible and made up for the simple track.

the driver lineup was incredible, pretty much gathering all of the stylish drifters from western europe in one place, with some wildcards like palmer from team animal style and fiji from next level also showing up. the event organizer, dom, also went for some laps making some crazy entries in his crazy ps13, but ended up smacking the rear quarter onto the wall. however, he had the car back up and running in no time, and went straight back to showing style.

as the sun went down and the drifting ended, the coolest cars in the event were selected to move inside a graffitied hangar where lights and a sound system were set up to create a sort of party with cars, where we spent the night chilling with other drivers, talking cars and sharing foreign beers.

between the music, the cars, the lights and the graffiti on the walls, the atmosphere of the night was incredible, truly recalling the underground drift atmosphere from video games we grew up with from nfs underground to juiced or midnight club.

thank you to dom and all of the tomodori staff for inviting us, and thank you to fede and the dsi boys and girls for sharing this incredible experience with me.

layer:zero. the beginning.

posted on 2/11/2025.

fresh start, clean slate, all that. i've finally jumped the gun on starting a wesbite, even tho html coding scares me, because i got so tired of the endless flow of slop that's being forcefed down our throats by social media, whether it's political ragebaiting, constant ads, AI slop, et cetera. keeping a social media presence has become more of a chore than a pleasure, so i'm trying to spend less time on that and more on here.

who am i? well, well.

outside of work, i'm hugely into cars - as you probably already figured out - but that's not all, i'm also an old tech nerd, especially hyperfixating on weird early 2000s gadgets, cameras and small computers, i'm an aviation enthusiast planning to start his pilot license soon, and i'm active in local politics and activism.

to sum it up, i still can't find what my place is on this earth. i don't know where life will take me, so in the meantime i'm trying to have as much fun as possible, focus on what makes me happy, and make as many memories as possible, without worrying too much about what the future will hold. recently I started downhill biking again, which i really missed, and went skydiving for the first time, which was incredible.