The Cybergoth subculture in Italy in the new fanzine 'Dark Youth'

The Cybergoth or Dark subculture has been a unique case on the Italian scene. Characterized by a unique melange of Aesthetics Goth, New Wave, Punk and Cyber¬punk, this cultural scene has represented for many young people freedom and escape from traditionalist and oppressive systems of life, as well as one of the last clusters of youth culture to resist before the concept died out with the new millennium – and until now it has never been documented in the round. The fanzine Dark Youth, the most recent editorial project of Ragazzi di Strada, an archive dedicated to subcultures curated by journalist and researcher Lorenzo Ottone and Albert Hofer, printed and distributed by Mondo Erotico Publishing was born precisely with the aim of bringing it back to light: the entire photographic apparatus comes from the archive of Albert Hofer, former exponent of the Italian Dark scene as well as the subject and author of most of the shots.

Hofer's photographs create a visual path through the scenes and behind the scenes of the Dark scene on a journey that begins in Italy in the 1990s and reaches as far as London and Germany, where many young Darks pursued the dream of their lifestyle and identity. To reinforce the documentary mission of the archive photos, the fanzine is accompanied by voices and testimonies reported by Hofer himself. Here's one:

«I would leave home with my outrageous and androgynous look, doing my make-up in the rear windows of parked cars, changing my clothes inside elevators or train toilets. This was a spiral that would leave in Coverciano - my neighbourhood - all the residues of sobriety. My black sneakers would stay on my feet until I reached my destinations, where they would be chucked into a backpack or bag and replaced with boots, heels or platforms as high as 20 centimetres».

The volume is divided into six chapters that, through the memoirs and anecdotes of Albert Hofer, touch on the most important themes related to the Dark scene (music, aesthetics, subcultural dynamics, politics, the discovery of oneself and one's sexuality, etc.), in a series of fundamental details to fully understand the nature of this youth scene.