“Prisons” is a journey through Italian prisons, the second chapter after South American prisons in the book ‘Encerrados’. Prisons are the mirror of a country's society, from small dramas to big economic and social crises. In these non-places for five years I visited 10 Italian prisons and noticed how people deprived of freedom try to rebuild habits, affections and find an alternative for a future that often does not exist. I entered maximum security prisons, where camorra and mafia affiliates are locked up, such as Poggioreale in Naples and Ucciardone in Palermo. I visited the realities of penal colonies, where inmates are partially free and can work outside prisons, as in Isili in Sardinia. I immersed myself in the dimension of women's prisons: in the ancient monastery in Venice, in San Vittore in Milan, and in Rebibbia for women in Rome. I have been in small prisons and huge prisons. I have been able to observe new facilities, such as the Capanne prison in Perugia, or small institutions such as the one in Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi. But above all, I was in close contact with inmates: I had lunch in their cells, listened to their stories, shared their tears and laughter. We experienced moments that seemed everyday. This work is also the result of these moments spent together. In these three years, I got to know the world of Italian prisons from the inside, and the idea I got is one of enormous loneliness. Prisoners are in perpetual contact with each other, yet they are always alone, no matter what time of day.