A three-year endeavor to capture the Sicilian Soul. Description below.
Sicily is an Italian island that captivates with the beauty of Mediterranean landscapes, Baroque architecture, and ancient customs of its inhabitants. Here, life spills out onto the streets and invites you to dance.
For three years, I have been visiting Sicily. Wandering through the basalt pathways of towns at the foot of Mount Etna, over time, I lost the sense of exoticism of this place. I became interested in the people and their daily struggles with life. Through photography, I wanted to capture the spirit of the Sicilians. I was fascinated by the encountered individuals and their connection with their environment.
I wonder, for example, who is the man selling oranges near the prison, where a mural depicting heroes fallen in the fight against the mafia is displayed. What are his problems, dreams? Or those cheerful shirtless boys, just moments ago playing soccer in the church parking lot, despite the forty-degree heat. Will they decide to leave the south when they grow up?
In the gazes of the Sicilians I encountered, whether old or young, joyful or not, I sensed a derivative of melancholy – malamuri. Malamuri signifies a torn feeling between attachment and the desire for something else. Malamuri, as the Sicilians say, is "painful love."
photo: Jakub Borkowski
"Malamuri" was exhibited in 2023 in Skład Solny, Kraków, Poland.
Original A1 prints available.