The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay
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Jan 2014 back issue
by Nicola Ókin Frioli
An unusual island, Sardinia has more than 3,500,000 sheep, cows, goats and pigs, (many more than Spain and
France) and a human population of just 1,655,677 (2006 est.) in an area of 24,090 km². Here, there are more sheep
and goats than Sardinians!
Sheep rearing has been the driving force behind Sardinia for centuries, but it is dying; largely due to the indifference
of the Italian government.
In the 70s a normal family with 150 sheep could put their children through University, but nowadays, a family with 300
sheep are over their heads in debt. Being a shepherd is simply for survival and no longer an economically viable
activity. It means being a part of an age old institution, but one that has collapsed and risks extinction due to a
modernization that does not have mercy for history and tradition.
Today the price of the goat's milk is around 50 cents (Euros) per litre. Last year it was closer to 80 cents per litre. Milk
is being bought from farms for nothing by large cooperatives that export it to Turkey. Nor is meat bought any longer
from Sardinian farms. Instead it is imported by boat from Spain.
So what is left for today's Sardinian shepherds? It seems they can choose between living in a state of poverty and
restriction inflicted on them by manufacturers or they have to find alternative methods of survival often turning to
desperate measures and crime.
Tziu (uncle) Antonio is used to drinking only Cannonau red wine. He has lived 40 years without a single drink of water,
because last time he drank water he became ill.
Out to pasture.
Mr Vittorio Carta, 80 years old.
Goppai Tore.
Traditional farm land.
Malfatano, Sardinia. Costa di Teulada. A coastal tract of wild intact beauty where busy Tuerredda beach is located.
Nearby stand the furriadroxus (derived from the word furriài meaning to retreat or to dwell), typical isolated dwellings
of the area around Malfatano. All the inhabitants of these houses are unmarried men over the age of 60 years who
represent the last remnant of a community held together by animal breeding, subsistence farming, and mutual
assistance but marked by solitude and marginalization as well.
Making cheese in the early morning.
Sig. Pietro Mulas, 69 years old and has been working hard since he was six years old. By the time he was 10 he was
sleeping in Supramonte (an isolated place of stones, montains and spring water) with his goats. Supramonte was a
very dangerous place in the past, where many thiefs/killers that had escaped from the small villages lived.
Sig. Pietro Mulas.
Matthari, Supramonte - Urzulei - Sardinia.
Mariano Brodu`s son, Scivu - Piscinas.
Mariano Brodu, was born in Desulo. He is 73 years old. He has worked hard in Scivu, were he lives now with his wife
and son, since 1957. Scivu - Piscinas.
Mariano Brodu.
Antonio Ciboddo, 83 years old and his wife Maddalena Pisciottu, 78 yeas old. They was married 55 years ago, and
have always lived in Stazzo Gallurese (Gallura region). The ancient country house they live in is more than 300 years
old.
On Tonino's farm, he works and lives with his wife and a young worker from Romania. Many east european people
come to Sardinia looking for work. They will work for 3 - 4 years before going back home to build a house with their
earnings.
