Annacata
Sicily, Italy 2019
Returning to Sicily with such a special group of people felt gauzy and intimate.
As the days progressed and the group was getting stronger with each individual sharing courageous stories of love and healing began to be shared lifting our spirit and making us feel very fortunate to be alive.
I finally got to meet Laurie and Chuck, a lovely couple who had to postpone the workshop due to health reasons. They were brimming with happiness to finally be there.
Morton still young in spirit and body with his eighty-three years of life on his back shared more of his lifetime stories.
Mark was finally returning to the workshop after a long hiatus and it was such a pleasure to feel his spiritual presence.
And last but not least, we were all pleased to have my dear my friend Daniele as part of the group. He was returning for his 4th Easter workshop!
We did the usual: combining trips to the countryside to take pictures of open landscapes, abandoned small villages and quarries along with the images of the many and profoundly different processions of this triangle of faith where I’ve been stubbornly returning, year after year, in the last two decades.
The incredible Sicilian food gave us so many special delightful surprises as well as the beauty of the encounter with the people participating in each procession.
Bringing images taken over the years back and give them away to people was very moving. Looking at their beautiful expressions of surprise and commotion felt so special!
I’ll continue to do so next year as a small way to say thanks to all my subjects that for so many years, without asking anything back, have allowed me to portray them as they show their profound faith!
The daily editing sessions were very important to guide each student to stay focused and to avoid the usual mistakes. The group Annacata (slow dancing in Sicilian) was getting, a bit at the time, some of those quintessential moments of life so hard to capture. But they were there, before our very eyes, and each one of them was a true miracle!
Daniele got to show his beautiful Easter work to the rest of the class receiving great praise.
I shared for the first time all the images taken in all these years during Easter, the new Naples project and the latest version of my upcoming Cuban book 25 de Noviembre.
As always, the feedback was so useful and inspiring. Laurie made a great contribution. Her apercu was illuminating! Changing that first sentence and make it the last one was brilliant. We hugged strongly!
Another change by one of my students that is bringing the book closer to home! EB
