Photography, Letizia Battaglia’s shots on display in London

The exhibition dedicated to the Palermo photographer, who documented everyday life in Sicily together with the horrors of wars and Mafia massacres, has opened at the Photographers’ Gallery and will remain open until February 23

The shots of photographer Letizia Battaglia on display in London. “Letizia Battaglia: Life, Love and Death in Sicily” has opened its doors at the Photographers’ Gallery in London, the exhibition entirely dedicated to the life and photographs of the Palermo photographer. Curated by Paolo Falcone in collaboration with the Letizia Battaglia Archive and the Falcone Foundation for the Arts and supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in London, the exhibition represents an absolute first for the great Palermo photographer in the British capital. From the beginning of the 1970s, Battaglia’s shots (1935-2022) documented everyday life in Sicily together with the horrors of wars and Mafia massacres until the 1990s. His photographs are recognized internationally as a fundamental documentation of the mafia phenomenon in Sicily.

The crowded inauguration ceremony of the exhibition – which will remain open until 23 February 2025 – was attended by the director of the Italian Cultural Institute Francesco Bongarrà, the director of the Photographers’ Gallery, Shoair Mavlian and the curator Paolo Falcone. “It is extraordinary to see Letizia Battaglia’s photographs exhibited in the gallery a stone’s throw from Oxford Street, considered the Mecca of the world photographic scene. Her objective – said Bongarrà, also from Palermo, who personally knew the photographer – has told the story of a land plagued and offended by the mafia that found the strength to rebel against the violence and oppression of Cosa Nostra, a testimony of history and civilization that the Italian Cultural Institute in London is happy to support in the capital British,” he concluded.