Boiling water is used to remove hair and clean the skin after the pig is killed. This normally happens in the first hours of the morning, when outside is still dark.

What is hidden from sight and awareness will often cause bigger troubles than something that might result uncomfortable

During summer, pigs are kept in pigsties that are well maintained and visited daily, to tend to the animals' needs.

Details. A small number of pigs are kept at one time in the pigsty, to guarantee them enough space to move around , indoor and outdoor.

Winter approaches, and with it comes the first snow.

Mid-morning coffee break for the people who have been up since before dawn to get everything ready. Although some of the scenes are not easy to watch, there are always elements that shift the situation to a level of acceptance and normality.

Carlotta tends to the pig statuette in her garden, feeding it snow. The relationship between children and animals in the small village is one of spontaneous coexistence.

There is a sense of gratitude and respect for the animals that are killed to provide sustainment.

After the pig is killed, the table in the garage becomes the place where meats are sorted and prepared to be stored away. Following the teachings of the ones before him, Fabrizio is making sausages.

Autumn is the time to make jam. Once ready, jam is poured into jars, cooled and properly stored away in air-tight containers.

Plums are picked, gathered and left to ripe on the bog table in the garden.

Upside down. After the killing, the pig is hung from the ceiling to make sure all blood is drained.

Paper used to soak the blood, irinically showing the ad of a pristine looking burger.

Animal food chain. Gagà the cat roams around looking for food.

Moments at the farm, after the fresh milk has been processed to make cheese and all the pots need cleaning.

Stone houses and buildings, a few of them abandoned, in Dosso del Liro.

Summer at the pastures, with Claudio feeding the cows salt, an essential nutrient for thier health.

The room at the pastures where milk is processed every morning to make cheese. Once ready, the cheese wheels are coverd with a cotton or linen cloth.

In the early afternoon after the killing of the pig, sausages and salami are ready to be hung up to dry

Giacomo and Rosaria at the house on the pastures, eating bread and cheese. Rosaria goes as often as she manages to visit Claudio, who moves here during the summer months with the animals.

The ritual of the killing of the big starts before dawn, in front of a fire, where water is boiled and people keep warm.

Final moments of the day, when everything is cleaned and tidied up.

In the evening of the killing of the pig, there is a big dinner for everyone who participated to the many activities of the day.

Although no one can deny that this is a bloody event, there is something humbling and poetic about the ritual side of the killing, the way it is done, the sense of community that it is surrounded by. Something that makes one reflect and connect to the cycles of life.