Letizia Battaglia- Between The Dark & The Light

The history of Sicily is dark, beautiful, deep, and diverse. The island has always struggled with the dualities of beauty and ugliness. America especially, has somewhat romanticized this. The reality that’s apparent on the island is, it is not something everyone glorifies, especially in art/movies.

During a day trip in Palermo, I came across the photographs of Letizia Battaglia.

Letizia Battaglia was a photographer/photojournalist. She was born in Palermo, the capital of Sicily. Historically, Palermo has been one of the hubs for crime on the island of Sicily due to the city factor. Here, Letizia started to photograph murder scenes and arrests of mafiosi for a left-wing newspaper “L’Ora” until it was forced to shutdown in the early 90’s. Most of her work is known from this period.

Other than her photojournalistic projects, Battaglia documented Sicilian life in its natural state. Even though none contain dead bodies or someone being arrested, they are somehow politically charged.

Letizia Battaglia, The cat and the mouse satiated by garbage, Palermo, 1977.

For those who are hiphop fans, The Cat and The Mouse Satiated By Garbage, was used as an album cover for Conway The Machine’s album titled “Palermo” in 2023.

Letizia’s photgraphs have an eerie silence to them. This is hard to achieve especially in Palermo, a city that can be bustling most of time. In The cat and the mouse satiated by garbage, Letizia has captured a Fiat 500 (a popular and practical civilian car) in the background of a garbage riddled setting, with a predator and prey in the foreground. An excellent visual summary and critique on the political and social systems of Sicily.

Letizia Battaglia, The mysteries. The Dove, Trapani, 1989.

Photography is having a great eye and having excellent luck. The mysteries. The Dove, is a great example of that. The angle, the dove, the boys, the flash; divine. An image conceptualizing hope for the Sicilian youth.

Letizia Battaglia, The little girl and the darkness, Isnello, 1980.

Letizia recieved many death threats throughout her life. She lived to be 87 years old. She left behind a wonderful portfolio of visual timestamps. Because of her, we have a look into the simplicities and complexities of Sicilian life in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.

Letezia Battaglia, Saint Peter's district, Palermo, 1989.

Notice the bottle on the shelf with the label “AMERICA”.

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