Letizia Battaglia photographed mostly fashion and everyday life until she got into her stride photographing victims of the mafia in Palermo and of the officials trying to bring the mafia members to justice.
It’s brazen, isn’t it, killing judges, journalists, and anyone who threatened to get too close. That included Battaglia herself who took the hint when the mafia wrote her a letter telling her to get out of town.
She survived, and died of natural causes in 2022. The exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery in London is the first major exhibition in the UK.
The gallery advises that the photos include guns, murder victims, dead animals, police arrests, brutality, crime, blood, nudity and scenes of poverty. They suggest that anyone concerned should speak to a member of staff.
Middle aged men shot dead in cars, blood everywhere, are the stuff of photogenic images. At the same time, sad for anyone who comes to their end like that.
Leave a comment