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"I have never attended photography courses but the passion was born around the time I was 10, using my brother's Polaroid 1000. It was love on the first shot. Since then I have dealt with the most diverse specialties, from glamor to architecture. Today I am a freelance photographer and I also deal with documentaries and conceptual photography."
Your latest documentary photo series is called "I baarioti". Can you tell us more about this series?
"I baarioti" is a series that I developed in about three years, from 2013 to 2015 when I lived in Bagheria, a town a few kilometers from Palermo in Sicily. It is known because Magnum photographer Ferdinando Scianna and Oscar winner Giuseppe Tornatore were born here. The title is the nickname given to the inhabitants and also has a sense of rebellion understood as the unwillingness to submit to the regional capital, which is Palermo.
What motivated you to create the documentary photo series?
In southern Italy, people often speak through facial expressions, not necessarily using words, on the contrary. So I wanted to film these faces, sometimes melancholy, sometimes smiling ... and also their movements. I would also like if the atmosphere was perceived a little as if time had stopped or that life was proceeding slowly.
While working on this series what was the main message you wanted to deliver?
In the evolution of the series I wanted to capture the naturalness of the facial and body expressions of the population and combine them with features of the landscape, where at times it seems that everything that belongs to the territory has the appearance of the people who live there.
You have very powerful black and white photos in this series. Why did you prefer to work with black and white photos here?
Because black and white strips what is the representation of reality of further meanings. It is like a stark vision. the color touches the obvious, takes away the mystery, it can also distract attention. Black and white levels everything.
Moving forward, what are your plans for the near future?
I'm currently finishing post-production on a documentary dedicated to my youth. And I collect information and suggestions on how to turn this documentary, I baarioti, into a book..
More info:
Website: http://www.giuseppefrancavilla.it