Imagine a liquid fuel made not from oil, but from sunlight, air, and water. In a landmark scientific journey, researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a synthetic, carbon-neutral fuel that mimics photosynthesis—turning solar energy into liquid hydrocarbons.

In a new cover story for TIME Magazine, I followed the production line of Worldcoin’s Orb, a device designed to prove our humanity in an era of advanced AI. The article explores the tensions between privacy, identity, and digital life as Tools for Humanity races to verify millions through iris scans. I documented the project across continents—from cautious optimism in Seoul to the Orb’s high-stakes launch in the U.S.—highlighting the uneasy balance between innovation and control. Read More.

“Le photographe Davide Monteleone a parcouru le monde pour documenter l'exploitation des terres rares, ces métaux clés pour le développement de technologies de pointe et la transition écologique, devenus objets de toutes les convoitises”

“De l’extraction du lithium chilien à celle du nickel d’Indonésie en passant par le cobalt congolais, le photographe Davide Monteleone explore les sites dans lesquels les industries de la tech viennent puiser les ressources indispensables à la transition énergétique.”

Thrilled to announce that my project Critical Minerals: The Geography of Energy is featured in a 24-page publication in the latest issue of GEO Germany!

In the fight for less CO2 in the air, ideas are being developed that sound like science fiction. An insight into technologies that are in their infancy - and could change the world.

On Annabelle Magazine

La questione e urgente e pressante: può la tecnologia aiutarci a risolvere la crisi climatica? Davide monteleone ha provato a rispondere a questa domanda, intraprendendo numerosi viaggi in tutta l'europa con il suo team per visitare alcune delle principali istituzioni nel campo delle tecnologie ccus (cattura e stoccaggio del carbonio), che puntano sulla rimozione della co2 dall'atmosfera per contribuire a combattere il riscaldamento globale. Nelle strutture visitate nel corso del reportage si sono viste differenti soluzioni possibili: grandi macchine che estraggono co2 dall'aria, impianti dove l'anidride carbonica viene iniettata nel sottosuolo e contenitori sottomarini che permettono di immagazzinarla sotto il fondale marino. Alcune aziende, inoltre, hanno trovato un modo per riciclare la co, mentre altre coltivano microalghe per assorbirila.

One of the images of 'Sinomocene' is the cover of AidData's new Belt and Road Reboot report.

“The Italian photographer Davide Monteleone has spent nearly twenty years in Russia. It was there, on the eastern border, that he observed the beginnings of the Chinese "New Silk Roads" initiative announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013. A pharaonic investment of $1,000 billion aimed at strengthening the Middle Kingdom's presence in the world, through maritime, road and rail infrastructures. railways. A geopolitical enthusiast, the 48-year-old photographer three times awarded the prestigious World Press prize (2007, 2009 and 2011), embarked in 2014, in a vast enterprise of documentation of the impacts of this expansion. A project for which he received a grant from the National Geography Storytelling Fellows in 2019.”

My work about the epic journey on the Nordic Odyssey cargo ship has been published in Le Chasse Marée magazine.

I spent several years working on a project about Chinese’s economic footprints with the support, among others, of the National Geographic Society. While the whole project is just starting to be distributed, it is interesting to read the newest report by Aiddata accompanied by a couple of pictures from my project.