Life in Sicily

Franco Zecchin | Life in Sicily 27 September 2025 – 25 January 2026

Fotomuseum aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht presents an exhibition by Italian social documentary photographer Franco Zecchin from 27 September 2025 until 25 January 2026. The exhibition Life in Sicily shows fifty iconic black-and-white photographs taken on the Italian island between 1975 and 1994. During this turbulent period, Sicily was dominated by widespread mafia violence, political corruption, and social inequality.

In 1975, Franco Zecchin moved to Palermo and began his career as a photojournalist for the daily newspaper L’Ora, with a particular focus on the influential mafia organization Cosa Nostra. As an engaged photographer, he captured assassinations, funerals, protests, and the everyday life of people trying to live under constant threat. Zecchin’s images reflect an island in crisis and the resilience of its inhabitants.

The photographer is considered one of the most important visual chroniclers of Sicily’s bloody mafia era. The exhibition offers a penetrating view of the ongoing struggle between organized crime, civil society, and the government. The images also reveal the complexity of a society in which violence and beauty often coexist uneasily. In 2019, a selection from this extensive photo series was published in the book Continente Sicilia.

Franco Zecchin (Milan, 1953) worked closely with his partner, photographer, and anti-mafia activist Letizia Battaglia. From 1988 to 1991, he was a nominated member of the Magnum Photos agency. In the 1990s, he explored themes such as nomadism and religious feasts. In addition to exhibitions across Europe and the United States, his internationally acclaimed work is included in the collections of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP) in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Since 2006, Zecchin has been living and teaching in Marseille.

Photos: Franco Zecchin
Bijschriften: The kiss. Palermo 1978 / The « LAPA »: a popular and family car. Palermo 1980 / Brotherhood of Holy Crucifix. Palermo 1988 / Benedetto Grado's wife and daughters at the scene of his murder. The family was already mourning the son Antonio's murder. Palermo 1983