I randomly came across an exhibition of Letizia Battaglia in 2023 while strolling the streets of Paris. I was struck by the courage of this woman, who confronted the Cosa Nostra in Sicily by documenting its violence as closely as possible, both in the moment and in its aftermath. She was even threatened with death if she continued. She did, and lived to the age of 88. This time, the Fotomuseum Den Haag presents her work under the title “Life, Love and Death in Sicily” in a striking and elegant display, with photographs floating in space. The exhibition brings together a large body of work from the 1970s to the early 2020s, capturing everyday life, street violence, religious practices, intimacy, and mourning. One of the most striking images shows a small child wearing a mask, playing with a gun and aiming at an unseen target. Another captures a young girl bathed in sunlight, standing beside an older man in sunglasses who seems to retreat into shadow. These deeply symbolic photographs reflect the tension and contradictions of life in Sicily at the time. Through such images, Letizia Battaglia elevated photojournalism into a powerful form of art, staying close to her subjects and revealing, in small moments, the everyday realities and injustices faced by ordinary people. She stayed too long in the shadows and deserves being rediscovered today, especially in this age of fake news and alternative truths.
