Farewell to the photographer Letizia Battaglia
“Palermo is a little magical, a little fallen, a little solemn, it’s life and death”. So he spoke Letizia Battaglia, died at the age of 87 from the consequences of an illness. The famous Italian photojournalist was born in Palermo in 1935, city he hated and lovedbut which he wanted to tell in its complexity.
His shots are memorable, one of which has impressed forever the death of the president of the Piersanti Mattarella Region, rescued by his brother Sergio, now president of the Republic. At 27, he remembers a photography blog, accidentally met the poet Ezra Pound, this quick acquaintance brought him closer to his poetry which became a great source of inspiration throughout his life. Soon Letizia will find a home in the legendary newspaper time.
He will stay in Milan for several years and here Letizia will learn more of this language, she will tell about it Years of leaduntil, in ’74, he will return to his beloved Palermo, director of photography for the newspaper “l’Ora”, describing the city between mafia, patronage, politics and degradation, alongside other great witnesses of his time including Josef Koudelka and Ferdinando Scianna. The archive of him tells of the hegemony of the clan of the Corleonesi.
His are the shots at the Zagarella hotel that portray him Salvo mafia debt collectors together with Giulio Andreotti and which were acquired in the acts for the trial. On 6 January 1980 she was the first photojournalist to arrive at the place where Piersanti Mattarella was murdered.
In the same year one of his shot of the “girl with the ball” in the Palermo district of Cala goes around the world. Her commitment as a photographer inside and outside the newspaper is continuous, at least until 1992, the year of the murders of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellinonow tired of violence.
Letizia Battaglia then dealt with dissemination and supported and collaborated with various agencies and various laboratories for training in 2017, of the “International Center of Photography of Palermo” a historical archive that collects the shots of over 150 photographers, professionals and amateurs, who wish to show their vision of the city to the public, national and international, and so that these testimonies can be preserved. He has trained generations of photographers such as his daughter Shobha, Mike Palazzotto and Salvo Fundarotto.
Letizia Battaglia was the first European woman to receive in 1985ex aequo with the American Donna Ferrato, the Eugene Smith Prize, in New York, an international recognition established to remember the Life photographer. Another award, the Mother Johnson Achievement for Life, was awarded to her in 1999.
Mafia, therefore, but not only, also culture, rights and life of women: from 2000 to 2003 she directed the bimonthly magazine created by women Mezzocielo, born from an idea of hers in 1991. An important and multifaceted personality that has marked the history and culture not only of Palermo.
