Italian photographer Letizia Battaglia dies, who "shot" the Mafia

The Italian

one of the most important photographers in the world and known above all for having portrayed

the Sicilian mafia, with her black and white photos, died today in Palermo (Sicily) at the age of 87.

Breaking the news, the mayor of the Sicilian capital

stated that the city "loses an extraordinary woman and a point of reference".

"Letizia Battaglia was an internationally recognized symbol in the art world, a flag on the road to the liberation of the city of Palermo from the Mafia government," added the alderman.

Battaglia, who was the first woman photographer in a newspaper, "L'Ora" of Palermo, stood out for her photographs of the

linked to the mafia attacks in her native Sicily and that went from the pages of the newspapers to being true works of art.

His life and work were the protagonists of "Shooting the Mafia" (Shooting the mafia), a documentary directed by

presented in 2019 at the Berlinale, the international film festival in the German capital, and in which he told mob violence and how he captured it in his shots.

The images of the historical arrests of the bosses of the criminal organization at the time, of the

prostrated on the ground or of the blood spilled where there was one minutes before are intermingled with others of joyful parties of Palermo's high society or of the happy faces of children on the street, were some of the images that made him famous throughout the world.

His is also the photo of

current president of the Italian Republic, who takes his dead brother Piersanti, then president of the Sicily region, out of the car after a Cosa Nostra attack in 1980.

But much of his work was dedicated to the ordinary people of Sicily, to children and women in the first place.

De Battaglia always stood out how in his photographs he

but always with respect and without falling into the spectacular or the clichés that are often made of the world of the mafia.

His photos also demonstrate his courage, standing up to mafiosi with dignity and courage, such as the image he took of the arrest of mafia boss

in 1979, a key moment in the history of the Sicilian criminal organization, and which Battaglia photographed so up close that the detainee managed to kick her and throw her to the ground.

His latest images were more familiar, such as those of his daughter Patrizia giving birth to her granddaughter, Marta, in 1995 or the campaign he did for Lamborghini in 2020, which sparked controversy over the use of girl models.

He was born in Palermo in 1935, where he will spend most of his career and life, except for a brief period in Milan.

At the age of 27, she met by chance the poet

who brought her closer to her poetry, which became a great source of inspiration throughout her life.

She then found work at "l'Ora", a local newspaper in Palermo with which she collaborated for several years, becoming the first female photographer in a newspaper and of which she would become head of photography in 1974.

Her commitment as a photographer inside and outside the newspaper is continuous, at least until 1992, the year of the murders of

These attacks, as she explained, destroyed her and caused her to interrupt her career as a photojournalist, but she will not abandon the fight against the mafia, preferring to concentrate on her cooperative activities of awareness and dissemination.

Battaglia has always supported and collaborated with various agencies and various laboratories to spread its knowledge and experiences.

This "mission" will culminate with the inauguration, in 2017, of the "Palermo International Photography Center", a historical archive that brings together the

professional and amateur, who wish to show their national and international public vision of the town.

Numerous books and exhibitions have been dedicated to his work and he received numerous awards such as the "Eugene Smith" for photojournalism.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• Italy

• Mafia