A few words about me

In my photographic practice, I have tried to bring together all my passions: the theatre, which I lived for many years as an assistant director; movement, which I loved deeply in dance and which, more generally, shapes reality itself, making it always unique and alive.
Today, I am above all a sociologist (Associate Professor at the University of Palermo), and I am passionate about social photography and reportage. I am convinced that every good photojournalist, through their work, ultimately produces a reportage of themselves.
I fully embrace a statement by the great Robert Capa: “There are no good photographs and bad photographs, only photographs taken from too close or too far away.”
I therefore try to enter situations, absorb their atmosphere, and grasp the soul of the people in front of me.
In my own small way, I try to resist the overwhelming overload of images we are all immersed in by exercising one thing above all: c o n c e n t r a t i o n. Yes, I believe “concentration” is the right word.

I exhibit my work when invited, because I enjoy establishing—however indirectly—a dialogue with the audience. I am convinced that everyone can recognise when an image—regardless of taste, which is always subjective—is made with real concentration.
This website collects the outcomes of my academic work (teaching and research) as well as my photographic practice (photography, critique, and the organisation of projects and events).
My current research interests are intertwining with photography, which has always been one of my deepest passions. I am now developing a reflection on the social uses of photography today, starting from Bourdieu’s seminal volume, the extraordinary research he conducted in the 1960s—an investigation with which one must still inevitably engage when re-opening the question today.
My passion for photography has multiple origins. My mother was deeply fond of it. I believe it was her only true passion outside of work. She had a certain ironic flair for capturing the most significant moments in our lives, as daughters, as well as family scenes. In a way, she often used photography to tease us affectionately.
As for technical skills, she had very few. She would go to her friend Nicola Scandii (they had worked together at L’Ora di Palermo in the 1950s) and ask him to set up her camera. He would look at the sky and choose some combination of shutter speed and aperture. My mother used a Rolleicord 6×6, and in any case Nicola would develop everything for her, solving every mistake…
Of my entire childhood and adolescence, I remember almost exclusively the photographs—images that clearly impressed my mind. I’m not sure why… My mother’s photographs gave me the only past I truly possess. Fortunately, she took many.

Education

Degree in Philosophy, University of Palermo (24 June 1992), with top marks (110/110 cum laude).
Sasakawa Foundation scholarship at the Pedro Arrupe Institute of Palermo (1994–1996), during the extraordinary years of the “Primavera di Palermo”.
PhD in Sociology of Political and Legal Institutions, University of Macerata (May 1999).
Currently Associate Professor of Sociology of Cultural and Communication Processes.
Since 2001, lecturer in the Communication Sciences programmes and member of the Department of Culture and Society.
My current courses are: Sociology of Communication and Annual Photography Laboratory.
I have collaborated with various newspapers and magazines. Links to some of my articles are available here.
Since 2017, member of the organisational staff of the literary festival 38° Parallelo – Tra libri e cantine, where I am also the festival’s official photographer.
My 2018 book Nella giostra della social photography (Mondadori) was featured in 2019 on the RaiRadio3 programme Qui Comincia, and on 27 July 2022 I was a guest on RaiRadio3’s Fahrenheit, hosted by Loredana Lipperini, for an interview about the same book.
Since 2022, I have collaborated with Gente di Fotografia magazine.
Also since 2022, I serve as Editor-in-Chief of the book series Arte e Comunicazione, founded with Claudio Gnoffo and published by Palermo University Press.
Within this series, the following volumes have already been published (as editor or co-editor): Realtà Mediali. Medialità, arte e narrazioni and Realtà Mediali. Medialità, comunicazione e società;
and the exhibition catalogue Careful Details (Museo Guttuso, Villa Cattolica).
Forthcoming: my monograph La concezione del fotografabile nella prospettiva della sociologia del tempo.
Another recent publication: La linea spezzata. Una ricostruzione critica dell’attuale deficit di coerenza (2021).

Artistic Curriculum

After extensive study and professional work in classical dance, between 1985 and 1992 I attended the Teatés Theatre School in Palermo, directed by Michele Perriera, studying both acting and directing.
I worked for several years as Perriera’s assistant director, contributing in particular to:
• Celia Carli ornitologa, by Dacia Maraini, directed by Michele Perriera;
• Qui è quasi giorno, written and directed by Michele Perriera.
Since the 1990s I have also worked as assistant director with filmmaker Giuseppe Gigliorosso.

Awards and Exhibitions

• 2002: Winner of the Solighetto International Photography Award (Treviso) with Facce di Ballarò.
• 2003: Exhibitions at Solighetto International Photography and Alberobello Fotografia.
• 2003: My portfolio of manipulated Polaroids from the World Festival on the Beach (Mondello) won the contest linked to the event and was published in Il Fotografo.
• 2006: Colour reportage from the same festival won the Critics’ Prize.
• 2007: Another black-and-white reportage won the World Festival on the Beach Photo-contest.
• 2007–2011: Exhibition of Tam Tam Tamil, a long-term project on Palermo’s Tamil community.
• 2015: Co-founder of the photographic collective PolpolessoLab, presenting the exhibition series Five Authors Toward a Borderline Photography at Galleria XXS, Palermo. My personal exhibition featured manipulated Polaroids titled Palermo. Polaroid Art.
• Co-writer and still photographer, with Giancarlo Marcocchi, for Giuseppe Gigliorosso’s 2012 feature film Ore 18 in punto.
• Participation in several festivals, including Carbonia Fotografia 2013.
• Former photography lecturer at the Cinema School Pianofocale.

DanisinniLab

I have collaborated as still photographer with DanisinniLab, a community-based theatrical workshop in the historic Danisinni neighbourhood of Palermo, directed by Gigi Borruso with Stefania Blandeburgo.
I photographed the productions:
• Antigone casa per casa (2019);
• Rosalia a Danisinni (medium-length film, 2020);
• L’eccezione e la regola (2021);
• Antigone – Le voci (2022);
• Danisinni Express (2023);
• Catastrofe (2024);
• La Luna e la Rosa (2024);
• L’ancilu e i vagabbunni (2024);
• Stracci (2025).

Recent and Current Activities

• 30 September–14 October 2022: Solo exhibition Porticello. Una comunità at Villa Butera (City of Bagheria). The RAI TGR-Sicilia news programme dedicated a feature to the exhibition (11 October 2022).
• November 2022: Issue 58 of Dialoghi mediterranei published an article about the Porticello exhibition.
• Artistic Director of Collettivof [link] a photographic collective turned APS in 2023, which has curated the exhibition series COLLETTIVOF ANNO ZERO and ANNO UNO.
• February 2024: A selection of my Porticello work became part of the Permanent Collection of the Guttuso Museum (Villa Cattolica).
• October–December 2024: Participation in the group exhibition Careful Details, curated by Arrigo Musti. I presented a project produced inside a care home during Carnival, addres-sing the right to play at every age.
• May 2025: Solo exhibition DanisinniLab. Tracce di scena at the Palermo Municipal Histori-cal Archive, showcasing seven years of documentation of the laboratory’s theatrical work, accompanied by a live performance.