The magazine of the photo-essay
May 2017 back issue
by Salvo Galano
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker
The island of Ponza, nicknamed the Pearl of the Mediterranean, is a small, beautiful
Italian island a few miles off the coast of Rome. From June to September it is a tourist
destination but every year at the beginning of October, Ponza returns to itself. The
crowds of tourists disappear, the piers are removed and the boats are brought to shore,
the colors resurface as do the islanders and the rhythms of a landscape and a
community not yet commercialised.
In a photographic book, the story of the people, the land, the sea and the soul of Ponza
through Salvo Galano's images. The photographer, originally from the island of Ponza,
as a wise director was able to stage the story of all. The looks, the sea, the rocks, all the
expressions of man and nature weave the fabric of the island's history. “Those who are
born or have roots on an island, whether large or small, knows that the sea, and the water
in general, are ancestral elements which influence the existence”.
L'Isola that lives through Salvo Galano's photos reveals an enchanted and unique
universe, deeply rooted in the nature of their land surrounded and protected by the sea.
This photographic work about the island of Ponza goes beyond the portrait, it explores the sites and stories of the
islanders.
Ponza, through the lens of Salvo Galano, becomes L'Isola: A happy get-away, a place torn between attraction and
escape. A harsh and controverse reality.
Aniello, farmer.
Antonio, fisherman.
Antonio, the harbor master.
Danilo, the hunter.
Benedetto, Luigi and Cesare, power plant workers.
Cala fonte bay.
Gianni, the scenographer.
Gaetano, street vendor of fruit and vegetables.
Giuseppe, electrician.
Isidoro and Luigi, the doctors.
Luisa, island beauty.
Natalino, sailor.
Rosina, housewife.
Palmarola, the island of the islanders.
The Mexican, tour guide.
The pirate's cave.
Vincenzo, fish breeder.
