Remembering Letizia Battaglia, Fearless Photo journalist

 

Letizia Battaglia passed away on April 13th 2022, leaving behind a legacy of photojournalism that both shocked and intrigued her audience. Letizia was born in Palermo Sicily, where she spent almost all of her life working and writing. Letizia was fascinated with photography from a young age, and made her presence known by starting with the newspaper L’Ora in 1969. At the time, the Sicilian mob had control over the entire region, and this greatly affected many Sicilians’ way of life. Letizia documented the crime that the mob brought to Sicily, in the hopes of spreading the dark truths that so greatly affected her local community.

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Over decades and through over 600,000 photographs, Letizia has immensely helped to document the crime in Sicily in efforts to raise awareness for an end to it. One of her most notable photographs depicts a young boy with a mask holding a gun somewhere in the distance. Through her bravery, Letizia was able to get on the front lines of crime, shining a light on the progressional pipeline from children to adults and the need to be in a gang to survive. Letizia’s work lives on through her countless photographs and bravery that continues to inspire photojournalists around the world to push boundaries in delivering their truth.

– Frank Pastula