Letizia Battaglia

Palermo and the Fight Against the Mafia

Letizia Battaglia

Letizia Battaglia is undoubtedly the most famous Italian photographer on the international scene. Her street views, portraits of women, and pictures of mafia murders tell the tale of her hometown Palermo – an al fresco film set. The whole of Palermo society is revealed through her lens: the rich, the poor, and the marginalized, the violence of life on its streets and squares.

Battaglia interprets photography as a tool of civic engagement. She describes reality full-on, without filters or formal aids. Her most famous shots are those which illustrate the bloody mafia wars in Sicily. Yet beside these images of the lifeless bodies of judges and nameless victims, Battaglia’s favourite themes are on show, too: portraits of children and young women, which speak of a possible future.

The exhibition presents these fleeting moments, which were captured with a gaze both distanced and empathetic. In showing reality without any rhetoric, they lend documentary force to everyday scenes.