View allAll Photos Tagged content
This is an installation photograph of some of my work in the exhibition "The Poetry of Content: Five Representational Artists" which is now at the Kalamazoo Institute of Art in Michigan.
The paintings in the photograph above are, from the left:
Culture of Adoration, Dear in the Dark, Her Listening Eye,
From the press release about the exhibition: "In the landscape of contemporary practice, representational imagery has seemingly gone into hiding. With a few exceptions, imagery that incorporates a realistic visual space, modeled figures and natural surroundings is largely absent from the lexicon of art making. Over his more than forty years as a painter and professor at Syracuse University, internationally recognized artist and guest curator Jerome Witkin has championed representation and narrative in his work and his teaching. Poetry of Content is his examination and celebration of the work of five painters who share his interest in the subject: Bill Murphy, Robert Birmelin, Gillian Pederson-Krag, Joel Sheesley and Tim Lowly. Featuring over forty pieces of original artwork, this exhibition displays a variety of representational imagery as paintings, drawings, and prints."
The exhibition will be at the Kalamzoo Institute of Arts through February 19, 2017.
♥ thanks my Sponsors ♥
☠ Sponsored content ☠
GA:EG - Effects - BX-FX06 #Horror - BOM [EVO X]
GA:EG - Animated Heart Orb
Lilleth Mills x LACED - NEW Collection
SFU - Victoria Necklace
SFU - Awakening Coffin
“Breastfeeding may not be the best option for all mothers, but it is the best option for all babies (Puede que la lactancia no sea la mejor opción para todas las madres, pero es la mejor opción para todos los bebés)” – Lavinia Belli.
“A newborn baby has only three demands. They are warmth in the arms of its mother, food from her breasts, and security in the knowledge of her presence. Breastfeeding satisfies all three” – Grantly Dick-Read.
Safiath – Chanson pour l'allaitement (UNICEF Niger) ♫ youtu.be/G6-7V2F-jpo
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 170 countries to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world.
--> WHO’s Facts about breastfeeding: www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs342/en/
--> Breastfeeding: A round up of Chrocane evidence www.evidentlycochrane.net/breastfeeding-a-round-up-of-coc...
--> Guía para las mujeres que desean amamantar y madres que amamantan portal.guiasalud.es/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/GPC_560_La...
Moitas grazas a Isaura e ao Grupo de apoio á lactación BBTTA Narón.
.……………………………….
- February 4th: The rain has stopped, and here the procession has taken a sharp detour, leading, with a singular maneuver by the devout archers, to leave the port arches behind and head towards the centre of Catania;
- giorno 04 febbraio: la pioggia è cessata, qui la netta deviazione della processione ha portato, con una singolare manovra dei devoti tiratori, a lasciarsi alle spalle gli archi della marina, ed a dirigersi verso il centro di Catania.
………………………………
i.ytimg.com/vi/rWBtAjY8-cY/maxresdefault.jpg
www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022...
static.prod.iranwire.com/_versions_webp/articleslide/holy...
theartsofslowcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/holy-s...
play-lh.googleusercontent.com/YEbCXIuZDhTpPsFPQy33y2D0VI6...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;
or…. Press the “L” button to zoom in the image;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
oppure…. premi il tasto “L” per ingrandire l'immagine;
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
…………………………………………………………………
Religious devotion, at times, in Sicily seems to take on the face of women, like that of the two Sicilian saints Agata and Lucia along the Ionian coast of Sicily, or the face of Rosalia, on the opposite side, in Palermo. The lives of Saint Agatha and Saint Lucia are closely linked, even though they never met. Agatha was martyred in 251, Lucia was not yet born, she was born 32 years later. On February 5, 301, she went to Catania to pray at Agatha's tomb to invoke her intercession, hoping to obtain the healing of her mother, who was seriously ill. Agatha appeared to her in a dream, confirmed her mother's healing (her mother was healed), but also confided in her that she would be martyred because of her faith in Christ: Lucia was martyred on December 13, 304, during the persecutions of Diocletian. What has been said as an incipit of the photographic story that I present here, created on the occasion of the celebration that Catania dedicates to its Patron Saint Agatha, described as the most important religious celebration in Catania, also considered the third Catholic religious celebration in the world (first are the “Semana Santa” in Seville, and the “Corpus Domini” in Cuzco in Peru), a ranking that takes into account the huge number of people who participate every year. The celebration of Saint Agatha takes place on several dates, from 3 to 6 February, on 12 February and on 17 August: the February celebration is linked to her martyrdom, the August celebration commemorates the return to Catania of her mortal remains, initially taken to Constantinople as spoils of war by the Byzantine general Maniaces, and remained there for 86 years. The young Agatha lived in the 3rd century, she belonged to a rich patrician family of Catania, since she was young she had embraced the cult of the Christian religion, the governor Quinziano (or Quintiliano) fell in love with her, Agatha to escape him hid in his house in Palermo, Quinziano managed to find out where she was hiding, so he had her taken to Catania, here his attempts to bend Agatha's will and make her give in to his flattery were in vain, after her umpteenth refusal he changed his intentions, accused her of being of the Christian religion, condemned her to death, not without first having led her to martyrdom, he amputated her by tearing off both her breasts, in this way in addition to the torment of physical pain, the psychological one was added, humiliating the girl in her femininity, then he gave her death by dragging her on burning coals, Agata was 20 years old. After her death, the cult of her began to spread, even the pagans began to venerate her figure, there is news about her origins starting from 252, the year after her death: the inhabitants of Catania were proud of this young woman who rebelled against the will of the dictator. The feast of Saint Agatha begins on February 3, there is the procession "for the offering of wax", the two eighteenth-century carriages of the senate pulled by horses come out along the streets of the city, "the candlestick" make their appearance; on February 4th the celebration begins with the “Mass of Dawn” which is celebrated in the cathedral, after the reliquary bust of the Saint and the silver casket, they are placed on the “float” (or “fercolo”), to be carried in procession in its “external tour”, the procession begins by crossing the “Porta Uzeda” and thus reaching the arches of the marina, the procession then circumscribes the historic center of the city, going to the places where Agatha’s martyrdom took place; : On February 5th the “Pontifical Mass” is celebrated, on this occasion by lining up in the cathedral, you can go and see the reliquary bust of the Saint, as evening comes, the bust and the casket are placed back on the heavy float for the last procession, which goes along the “internal tour” (or “noble tour”), which crosses the historic center of Catania, a procession preceded by the passage of lit candles carried on the shoulders of devotees (of various weights and sizes, some reach exceptional dimensions and weight, historically these candles illuminated, when electricity did not exist, the passage of the Saint), then the “candlestick” pass, they are gigantic and heavy wooden “candlestick”, in baroque style, painted in gold, each one represents an ancient corporation (butchers, fishmongers, bakers, pork butchers, greengrocers, etc.), finally the float with Saint Agatha passes, the long-awaited moment, with the reliquary bust that it contains inside some parts of her body, the other parts of her body are inside the casket, so, with both on the float, Agatha's entire body can travel the streets of the city of Catania. The float is pulled by hand, by the many devotees who wish to participate spontaneously in this very particular rite, using two large cords more than 200 meters long, to the end of which are connected four handles. The photographs were taken on February 4 and 5, of this year 2026, they are not organized in series taking into account either the year or the days; I made portraits of the devotees, the "citizens" (synonym of "devotees") of Catania towards this young martyr, who has become a symbol of those who oppose violence against women, and protector of women suffering from breast cancer. I captured in some images, the custom of some devotees, to carry with them images of loved ones who passed away too soon (photos placed on candles or printed on the characteristic white habit, called "sacco (bag) ", which is part of the characteristic way of dressing of the devotees). Finally, I conclude with some brief observations on this traditional religious and popular feast, year 2026:
a- This year, during the "outer tour" or "plebeian tour," it rained. I don't recall photographing the Saint Agatha procession in the rain in past years, but the presence of umbrellas was a pleasant surprise for me.
b- Devotees carry candles on their shoulders, sometimes very heavy, weighing 50 kilos or even more than 100-120 kilos. These enormous candles are padded with foam rubber, placed by the devotees themselves, to prevent excessive pain when touching the shoulder carrying them.
c- Devotees carrying very heavy candles, flameless or with a burning candle, rely on the presence of another devotee, who, anticipating the procession, warns those present of the arrival of "a heavy load." This is to avoid accidents along the way, both for those on the road and for the bearer himself. Sometimes, the assistant devotee supports part of the weight of the candle itself.
d- Aware of the risk of people slipping in the streets after the devotees pass by with burning candles, releasing a considerable amount of melted wax onto the ground, on the afternoon of February 5th, before the ritual of lighting the large candles begins, the municipality of Catania sprinkles Catania's main street, Via Etnea, first with water from tankers and then immediately after with sawdust, which, mixing with the water, prevents it from being lifted into the air by the wind (risking irritation to the airways and eyes);
e- As the float of Saint Agatha passes by, countless smartphones are now raised in the air, to take with them, almost every present, a memento of "this beautiful magic." I couldn't resist the temptation to "seize upon" this modern-day custom, also because I'm fascinated by the well-groomed female hands;
f- although I have not respected the temporal presentation of the photographs, I will insert a small comment in the caption, with the day during which it was taken, whether the 4th (during the “plebeian tour” or “external tour”), or if during the 5th (“day of the “internal tour” or “noble tour”).
…………………………………………………….
La devozione religiosa, a volte, in Sicilia sembra assumere il volto delle donne, come quello delle due sante siciliane Agata e Lucia lungo la fascia Ionica della costa sicula, od il volto di Rosalia, sul versante opposto, in quel di Palermo. Le vite di Agata e Lucia sono tra loro legate in maniera strettamente indissolubile, pur non essendosi mai conosciute, Agata morì martirizzata nel 251, Lucia non era ancora nata, nascerà 32 anni dopo, il 5 febbraio del 301 si recherà a Catania a pregare sul sepolcro di Agata per invocare la sua intercessione sperando così di ottenere la guarigione di sua madre, gravemente malata, Agata le appare in sogno, le conferma la guarigione di sua madre (sua madre ebbe la guarigione), ma anche, le confida, che per lei ci sarà il martirio a causa della sua fede in Cristo: Lucia fu martirizzata il 13 dicembre del 304, durante le persecuzioni di Diocleziano. Quanto detto come incipit del racconto fotografico che qui presento, realizzato in occasione della festa che Catania dedica alla sua Santa Patrona Agata, descritta come la più importante festa religiosa di Catania, considerata anche la terza festa religiosa cattolica al mondo (prime la “Semana Santa” di Siviglia, ed il “Corpus Domini” di Cuzco in Perù), graduatoria che tiene conto del grandissimo numero di persone ogni anno vi partecipano. La festa di Santa’Agata si svolge in più date, dal 3 al 6 febbraio, il 12 febbraio ed il 17 agosto: la ricorrenza di febbraio è legata al suo martirio, quella di Agosto rievoca il ritorno a Catania delle sue spoglie mortali, portate inizialmente a Costantinopoli come bottino di guerra dal generale bizantino Maniace, e li rimaste per 86 anni. La giovane Agata visse nel 3° secolo, apparteneva ad una ricca famiglia patrizia di Catania, sin dalla giovane età aveva abbracciato il culto per la religione cristiana, di lei si invaghì il governatore Quinziano (o Quintiliano), Agata per sfuggirgli si nascose in una sua casa a Palermo, Quinziano riuscì a sapere dove si nascondeva, quindi la fece condurre a Catania, qui i suoi tentativi di piegare la volontà di Agata e farla cedere alle sue lusinghe furono vani, all’ennesimo suo rifiuto egli mutò i suoi propositi, la accusò di essere di religione cristiana, la condannò a morte, non senza averla prima condotta al martirio, le amputò strappandole entrambi i seni, in tal modo oltre allo strazio del dolore fisico, si aggiungeva quello psicologico, umiliando la ragazza nella sua femminilità, poi le diede la morte trascinandola sui carboni ardenti, Agata aveva 20 anni. Dopo la sua morte si iniziò a diffondere il culto verso di lei, anche i pagani iniziarono a venerare la sua figura, si hanno notizie sulle sue origini già a partire dal 252, anno successivo alla sua morte: gli abitanti di Catania erano orgogliosi di questa giovane donna che si ribellò al volere del dittatore. La festa per Sant’Agata inizia il 3 febbraio, si ha la processione “per l’offerta della cera”, escono lungo le vie della città le due settecentesche carrozze del senato trainate da cavalli, fanno la loro comparsa “le candelore”; il 4 febbraio la festa inizia con la “Messa dell’Aurora” che si celebra nella cattedrale, dopo il busto reliquiario della Santa e lo scrigno d’argento, vengono messi sulla “vara” (o “fercolo”), per essere portati in processione nel suo “giro esterno” (o “giro plebeo”), la processione inizia attraversando la "Porta Uzeda" e giungendo così agli archi della marina, la processione quindi circoscrive il centro storico della città, recandosi nei luoghi ove avvenne il martirio di Agata; il 5 febbraio si celebra la “Messa Pontificale”, in questa occasione mettendosi in fila nella cattedrale, si può andare a vedere il busto reliquiario della Santa, col sopraggiungere della sera, busto e scrigno, vengono nuovamente messi sulla pesante vara per l’ultima processione, che percorre il “giro interno” (o “giro nobile”), che attraversa il centro storico di Catania, processione preceduta dal passaggio dei ceri accesi portati in spalla dai devoti (di vario peso e dimensioni, alcuni raggiungono dimensioni e peso eccezionali, storicamente questi ceri illuminavano, quando non esisteva l’energia elettrica, il passaggio della Santa), poi passano le “candelore”, sono dei giganteschi e pesanti "candelabri" in legno, in stile barocco, dipinti in oro, portati in spalla, ognuna rappresenta una antica corporazione (macellai, pescivendoli, panettieri, pizzicagnoli, fruttivendoli, ecc.), infine passa la vara con Sant’Agata, il momento tanto atteso, col busto reliquiario che racchiude al suo interno alcune parti del suo corpo, le altre parti del corpo si trovano all’interno dello scrigno, in tal modo, con entrambi sulla vara, tutto il corpo di Agata può percorrere le strade della città di Catania. La vara è trainata a mano con due grosse funi, dai tantissimi devoti che desiderano partecipare spontaneamente a questo rito così particolare, le due grosse funi sono lunghe più di 200 metri (una posta alla destra della vara, l’altra posta alla sua sinistra), al cui capo sono collegate quattro maniglie. Le fotografie sono state realizzate il 4 ed il 5 febbraio di quest’anno 2026, esse non sono organizzate in serie tenendo conto né dell’anno, nè delle giornate; ho realizzato ritratti dei devoti, dei “cittadini” (sinonimo di “devoti”) catanesi (e non) tutti legati “ed innamorati” di questa giovane martire, diventata simbolo di chi si oppone alla violenza sulle donne, e protettrice delle donne ammalate di cancro al seno. Ho colto in alcune immagini, l’usanza di alcuni devoti, di recare con se immagini di persone care scomparse troppo presto (foto messe sui ceri o stampate sul caratteristico saio bianco, chiamato “sacco”, che fa parte del modo caratteristico di vestire dei devoti). Infine, termino, con alcune osservazioni “in pillole” di questa festa tradizionale religiosa e popolare, anno 2026:
a- quest’ anno durante il “giro esterno” o “giro plebeo” è arrivata la pioggia, non ricordo di aver fotografato negli anni passati la processione di Sant’Agata sotto la pioggia, per me la presenza degli ombrelli è stata una piacevole novità;
b- i devoti portano in spalla ceri a volte molto pesanti, di 50 chili ma anche più di 100 – 120 chili, questi enormi ceri presentano delle imbottiture con gomma spugna, posizionate dagli stessi devoti, per evitare che il contatto con la spalla che li regge, diventi eccessivamente doloroso;
c- i devoti (o le devote) che portano in spalla ceri molto pesanti, senza fiamma, o con il cero che arde, si avvalgono della presenza di un altro devoto o devota, che anticipandone il passaggio, avvisa i presenti dell’arrivo “di un carico importante”, questo per evitare incidenti durante il percorso, sia per gli astanti, sia per il portatore stesso; a volte l’aiuto devoto regge parte del peso del cero stesso;
d- consapevole del rischio di scivoloni nelle strade, da parte delle persone, dopo che sono passati i devoti coi ceri che ardono, liberando un notevole quantitativo di cera sciolta per terra, il pomeriggio del 5 febbraio, prima che inizi il rito dell’accensione dei grossi ceri, il comune di Catania cosparge la via principale di Catania, via Etnea, prima con l’acqua delle autobotti, subito dopo con della segatura, che amalgamandosi con l’acqua impedisce alla stessa di venire sollevata in aria col vento (rischiando di irritare le vie aeree e gli occhi);
e- al passaggio della vara di Sant’Agata, oramai innumerevoli sono gli smartphone sollevati in aria, per portare con se, quasi ogni presente, un ricordo di “questa bellissima magia”, non ho saputo sottrarmi alla tentazione di “cogliere al volo” questa consuetudine dei nostri tempi, anche perché affascinato dalle mani femminili, così ben curate;
f- pur non avendo rispettato temporalmente la presentazione delle fotografie, inserirò in didascalia un piccolo commento, col giorno durante il quale è stata colta, se il 4 (durante il “giro plebeo” o “giro esterno”), o se durante il 5 (giorno del “giro interno” o “giro nobile”).
.......................................................
“I’ll always be there for you… for now and forever.”
It was a promise of naïve hearts in the land of rainbows. The promise was insignificant in its content but magnanimous in tenderness. Every word was truly meant by both soul-mates. Rainbows sweared as witnesses. The spring gale sang for the occasion with occasional chorus of the misty rain. Forever did not seem like enough time as hearts skipped random beats and time flew faster than fast.
Then… it all came to a screeching halt. The wind song became a squall and rainbows faded into despondent dark clouds. As summer rolled in, parting became inevitable. There were no choices; She had to leave. He did not know how to let her go but he eventually did. Water flows, so do people. She spread her wings and flew away to a land he had never seen nor heard of; So did his innocence. Nothing mattered anymore… except, his own words uttered on a crazy moonlit evening in the land of rainbows.
“I’ll always be there for you… for now and forever.”
Now, when surviving a moment was excruciating for him, forever seemed like a cruel joke. Her glory and beauty remained caged in his pain and as days passed by, the pain felt increasingly rewarding. Conceding to her absence was a crude way of acknowledging her presence within his entire being. Standing at the edge of his hollow world, he leaned against the wind one day and whispered for her…
“I’ll always be here... for you… for now and forever.”
Member of the Flickr Bird Brigade
Activists for birds and wildlife
This Red-Winged Blackbird seems quite content on top of this reed. Seen along the I & M Canal Processed with Topaz Detail
Now I've got my blouse back and she has disappeared until the next unplanned visit, I’m a happy girl.
There are times when I edit a photo but don't quite seem to like the way it has turned out. It isn't until days, weeks or even months later that I feel that it's not too bad at all.
This was taken quite a number of years ago but I only got around to editing it in two months ago. And then another two months to end up here :)
Hope you're all enjoying your weekend! :)
Please visit our Patreon for full sets. Supporting us on Patreon allows us to continue providing content like this to you.
Couldn't resist yet a few more pictures of the Kingfishers. They have been such fun to photograph.
(Peter)
.……………………………….
Samir ed il suo messaggio d’amore
----------------------------------------------------------
click to activate the small icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream (it means the monitor);
or…. Press the “L” button to zoom in the image;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
oppure…. premi il tasto “L” per ingrandire l'immagine;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
………………………………………………………………………
Beach holidays were born in the 1700s in Great Britain, this social phenomenon was born in which bathers for the first time go to the beaches, certainly not as sunny as those bathed by the Mediterranean Sea, they are fully dressed; this "new fashion" is also encouraged by the belief of English doctors since the beginning of the eighteenth century (starting around 1720), that breathing the brackish sea air and bathing in cold sea water is healthy, invigorates the body and cure lung diseases (conviction even more strengthened by the discovery of oxygen by Antoine Lavoisier in 1778, which led to the greater diffusion and conviction of the theories on the health benefits of sea air, which was thought to be more oxygenated and pure), these theories push many people from Northern Europe suffering from severe lung diseases to spend long periods in southern Europe, often in the south of Italy, this explains why characters with extraordinary qualities come to Taormina to cure their tuberculosis. The photographer baron Wilhelm von Gloeden and the English lady Florence Trevelyan Trevelyan had the seawater brought with their mules from Isola Bella, but while W. Von Gloeden heated the sea water, the English noblewoman Lady Trevelian did not heat it, mindful of the teachings of the English medical school, this will cause her death from bronchopneumonia on 4 October 1907 (see my previous "photographic stories" about Taormina). In fact, "thalassotherapy" was born in Great Britain, together with the social and cultural phenomenon of frequenting bathing beaches (before the beginning of the 18th century, the sea and its beaches were lived, except for reasons of trade and fishing, in a dark and negative way, from the sea often came very serious dangers such as the sudden landings of ferocious pirates, or foreigners carrying very serious diseases could land). Thus the fashion of spending holidays by the sea was born in the English aristocracy and high bourgeoisie of the time, subsequently the habit of going to the sea spread to all levels of society, the railways that were built throughout Great Britain to 'beginning of the nineteenth century, made travel to the ocean accessible even to the lower classes, they too will frequent the seaside resorts, Blackpool becomes the first seaside resort in Great Britain completely frequented by the working classes thanks to the presence of low-cost bathing establishments; the great and definitive boom in seaside tourism will then take place in the 1950s and 1960s. This being the case, it should not be surprising to know that in Great Britain the beaches are more frequented than one might instinctively think due to a climate very different from the Mediterranean one, and that this socio-cultural phenomenon has been investigated at the photographic by photographers of the same Great Britain, of these I mention four names. An important photographer, who probably inspired subsequent photographers, was Tony Ray-Jones, who died prematurely in 1972, at the young age of 30, who was trying to create a “photographic memory” of the stereotypes of the English people; the famous photojournalist Martin Parr, who, although inspired by the previous one, differs from it for his way of doing “social satire” with his goal; finally, I would like to mention David Hurn and Simon Roberts, the latter with wider-ranging photographs, with photographs more detached from the individual. In Italy there are numerous photographers (I will mention only a few) who have made in their long career images captured in seaside resorts (generally we speaking of "beach photography" similar to "street photography"), photographs that are often unique in their style, such as that adopted by Franco Fontana, I mention Mimmo Jodice, Ferdinando Scianna (of whom I am honored to have known him personally), and Massimo Vitali, famous photographer (understood by some as "the photographer of the beaches"), especially for his beautiful photographs taken on the beaches (but not only), thanks to the presence of elevated fixed structures as a kind of mezzanine, built specifically in the bathing beaches for the realization of his photographs. This incipit of mine, to introduce the theme I have addressed, that of “beach photography” (with some exceptions for “narrative” reasons), with a series of photographs taken mostly on the beaches of the north-western Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria, near the pleasant town of Diamante (municipality in the province of Cosenza), a town with a tourist vocation, famous for its notable and multiple murals. The portraits (and a couple of lovers) were captured in Giardini-Naxos. For some photographs I used a particular photographic technique at the time of shooting, in addition to capturing the surrounding space, it also "inserted" a temporal dimension, with photos characterized by being blurry because the exposure times were deliberately lengthened, they are confused-out of focus-imprecise-undecided... the Anglo-Saxon term that encapsulates this photographic genre in a single word is "blur", these images were thus created during the shooting phase, and not as an effect created later, in the post-production phase.
……………………………………………………………
Le vacanze al mare nascono nel ‘700 in Gran Bretagna, nasce questo fenomeno sociale nel quale i bagnanti per la prima volta si recano sulle spiagge, non certo assolate come quelle bagnate dal mar Mediterraneo, sono completamente vestiti; questa “nuova moda” è anche incoraggiata dalla convinzione dei medici inglesi fin dall’inizio del ‘700 (a partire dal 1720 circa), che respirare l’aria salmastra del mare e fare il bagno nell’acqua marina fredda sia salutare, rinvigorisca il corpo e curi le malattie polmonari (convinzione ancor più rafforzata dalla scoperta dell’ossigeno da parte di Antoine Lavoisier nel 1778, che portò alla maggiore diffusione e convinzione delle teorie sui benefici per la salute dell’aria di mare, che si pensava essere più ossigenata e pura), queste teorie spingono molte persone del Nord Europa affette da gravi malattie polmonari a trascorrere dei lunghi periodi nel sud Europa, spesso nel meridione d’Italia, questo spiega perché a Taormina giungono personaggi dalle qualità straordinarie per curare il proprio “mal sottile”, il barone fotografo Wilhelm von Gloeden e la lady inglese Florence Trevelyan Trevelyan si facevano portare coi muli l’acqua di mare proveniente dall’Isola Bella, però mentre W. Von Gloeden riscaldava l’acqua marina, la nobildonna inglese lady Trevelian non la riscaldava, memore degli insegnamenti della scuola medica inglese, questo causerà la sua morte per broncopolmonite il 4 ottobre del 1907 (vedi i miei precedenti “racconti fotografici” su Taormina). Infatti la “talassoterapia” nasce in Gran Bretagna, insieme al fenomeno sociale e culturale della frequentazione dei lidi balneari (prima dell’inizio del ‘700, il mare e le sue spiagge erano vissuti, tranne che per motivi di commercio e di pesca, in maniera oscura e negativa, dal mare spesso provenivano gravissimi pericoli come gli sbarchi improvvisi di feroci pirati, oppure potevano sbarcare stranieri portatori di gravissime malattie). Nell’aristocrazia e nell’alta borghesia inglese di allora nasce così la moda di trascorrere le vacanze al mare, successivamente l’abitudine di andare al mare si diffonde a tutti i livelli della società, le ferrovie che furono costruite in tutta la Gran Bretagna all’inizio dell’Ottocento, resero i viaggi verso l’oceano accessibili anche per i ceti più bassi, quelli più popolari e meno agiati, anch’essi frequenteranno le località balneari, Blackpool diviene la prima località balneare della Gran Bretagna completamente frequentata dalle classi popolari grazie alla presenza di stabilimenti balneari a basso costo; il grande e definitivo boom del turismo balneare si avrà poi negli anni ’50 e ’60. Stando così le cose, non ci si deve meravigliare nel sapere che in Gran Bretagna le spiagge sono più frequentate di quanto istintivamente si possa pensare a causa di un clima ben diverso da quello Mediterraneo, e che questo fenomeno socio-culturale sia stato indagato a livello fotografico da parte di fotografi della stessa Gran Bretagna, di questi cito quattro nomi. Un importante fotografo, che probabilmente ispirò i successivi fotografi, fu Tony Ray-Jones, scomparso prematuramente nel 1972, alla giovane età di 30 anni, il quale cercava di realizzare una “memoria fotografica” degli stereotipi del popolo inglese; il famoso fotoreporter Martin Parr, il quale pur ispirandosi al precedente, se ne differenzia per il suo modo di fare “satira sociale” col suo obiettivo; infine desidero menzionare David Hurn e Simon Roberts, quest’ultimo con fotografie di più ampio respiro, con fotografie più distaccate dal singolo individuo. In Italia numerosi sono i fotografi (ne cito solo qualcuno) che hanno realizzato nella loro lunga carriera immagini colte in località balneari (genericamente si parla di “beach photography” affine alla “street photography”), fotografie spesso uniche nel loro stile, come quello adottato da Franco Fontana, menziono Mimmo Jodice, Ferdinando Scianna (del quale mi onoro di averlo conosciuto personalmente), e Massimo Vitali, famoso fotografo (da alcuni inteso come “il fotografo delle spiagge”), soprattutto per le sue bellissime fotografie realizzate sui lidi (ma non solo), grazie alla presenza di strutture fisse sopraelevate a mò di soppalco, costruite appositamente nei lidi balneari per la realizzazione delle sue fotografie. Questo mio incipit, per introdurre il tema da me affrontato, quello della “beach photography” (con qualche eccezione per motivi ”narrativi”), con una serie di fotografie realizzate per la maggior parte sulle spiagge della costa tirrenica nord-occidentale della Calabria, nei pressi dell’ameno paese di Diamante (comune in provincia di Cosenza), paese a vocazione turistica, famoso per i suoi notevoli e molteplici murales. I ritratti (ed una coppia di innamorati) sono stati colti a Giardini-Naxos. Ho utilizzato per alcune fotografie una tecnica fotografica particolare al momento dello scatto, oltre a catturare lo spazio circostante, ha "inserito" anche una dimensione temporale, con foto caratterizzate dall’essere mosse poiché volutamente sono stati allungati i tempi di esposizione, sono confuse-sfocate-imprecise-indecise...il termine anglosassone che racchiude con una sola parola questo genere fotografico è "blur", queste immagini sono state così realizzate in fase di scatto, e non come un effetto creato successivamente, a posteriori, in fase di post-produzione
...........................................................................
"Yep, I'm a llama. I'm cool. Snow doesn't bother me a bit. I'll just chew on a bit of hay and be as happy as a clam."
Leipziger Buchmesse 2015
2015-03-13 (Friday)
2015_005
2015#132
SakuK (___) 537673 as Anarchy Stocking from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Ann_in_the_Dark (Sophie) 778037 as Panty Anarchy from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Thank you for any group invites which I will gladly accept. However, if I can't check the content of such groups ("This group is not available to you") I'd rather not add any of my photos. Thanks for your understanding.
TrackHead Studios presents.
the finest bird photography slideshow of the Kevin Mahoney Collection:
youtu.be/A6WqvMzRNcQEastern Phoebe
Historical research reveals that diverse political rationalities have framed the political means and objectives of state frontiers and borders, just as the difficult work of making borders actual has drawn upon a great variety of technologies
The single word ”border” conceals a multiplicity and implies a constancy where genealogical investigation uncovers mutation and descent. Historical research reveals that diverse political rationalities have framed the political means and objectives of state frontiers and borders, just as the difficult work of making borders actual has drawn upon a great variety of technologies and heterogeneous administrative practices, ranging from maps of the territory, the creation of specialized border officials, and architectures of fortification to today’s experimentation with bio- digitalized forms of surveillance. This chapter argues that we are witnessing a novel development within this history of borders and border-making, what I want to call the emergence of the humanitarian border. While a great deal has been written about the militarization, securitization and fortification of borders today, there is far less consideration of the humanitarianization of borders. But if the investment of border regimes by biometric technologies rightly warrants being treated as an event within the history of the making and remaking of borders (Amoore 2006), then arguably so too does the reinvention of the border as a space of humanitarian government.
Under what conditions are we seeing the rise of humanitarian borders? The emergence of the humanitarian border goes hand in hand with the move which has made state frontiers into privileged symbolic and regulatory instruments within strategies of migration control. It is part of a much wider trend that has been dubbed the ”rebordering” of political and territorial space (Andreas and Biersteker 2003). The humanitarian border emerges once it becomes established that border crossing has become, for thousands of migrants seeking, for a variety of reasons, to access the territories of the global North, a matter of life and death. It crystallizes as a way of governing this novel and disturbing situation,and compensating for the social violence embodied in the regime of migration control.The idea of a humanitarian border might sound at first counterintuitive or even oxymoronic. After all, we often think of contemporary humanitarianism as a force that, operating in the name of the universal but endangered subject of humanity, transcends the walled space of the inter-national system. This is, of course, quite valid. Yet it would be a mistake to draw any simple equation between humanitarian projects and what Deleuze and Guattari would call logics of deterritoralization. While humanitarian programmes might unsettle certain norms of statehood, it is important to recognize the ways in which the exercise of humanitarian power is connected to the actualization of new spaces. Whether by its redefinition of certain locales as humanitarian ”zones” and crises as ”emergencies” (Calhoun 2004), the authority it confers on certain experts to move rapidly across networks of aid and intervention, or its will to designate those populating these zones as ”victims,” it seems justified to follow Debrix’s (1998) observation that humanitarianism implies reterritorialization on top of deterritorialization. Humanitarian zones can materialize in various situations – in conflict zones, amidst the relief of famine, and against the backdrop of state failure. But the case that interests me in what follows is a specific one: a situation where the actual borders of states and gateways to the territory become themselves zones of humanitarian government. Understanding the consequences of this is paramount, since it has an important bearing on what is often termed the securitization of borders and citizenship.
Foucault and Frontiers
It is probably fair to say that the theme of frontiers is largely absent from the two courses that are today read together as Foucault’s lectures on ”governmentality” (Foucault 1991; 2007; 2008). This is not to suggest that frontiers receive no mention at all. Within these lectures we certainly encounter passing remarks on the theme. For instance, Foucault speaks at one point of ”the administrative state, born in the territoriality of national boundaries in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and corresponding to a society of regulation and discipline” (Foucault 1991: 104).1 Elsewhere, he notes how the calculation and demarcation of new frontiers served as one of the practical elements of military-diplomatic technology, a machine he associates with the government of Europe in the image of a balance of power and according to the governmental logic of raison d’état. ”When the diplomats, the ambassadors who negotiated the treaty of Westphalia, received instructions from their government, they were explicitly advised to ensure that the new frontiers, the distribution of states, the new relationships to be established between the German states and the Empire, and the zones of influence of France, Sweden, and Austria be established in terms of a principle: to maintain a balance between the different European states” (Foucault 2007: 297).
But these are only hints of what significance the question of frontiers might have within the different technologies of power which Foucault sought to analyze. They are only fragmentary reflections on the place borders and frontiers might occupy within the genealogy of the modern state which Foucault outlines with his research into governmentality.2
Why was Foucault apparently not particularly interested in borders when he composed these lectures? One possible answer is suggested by Elden’s careful and important work on power-knowledge and territory. Elden takes issue with Foucault for the way in which he discusses territorial rule largely as a foil which allows him to provide a more fully-worked out account of governmentality and its administration of population. Despite the fact that the term appears prominently in the title of Foucault’s lectures, ”the issue of territory continually emerges only to be repeatedly marginalized, eclipsed, and underplayed” (Elden 2007: 1). Because Foucault fails to reckon more fully with the many ways in which the production of territory – and most crucially its demarcation by practices of frontier marking and control – serves as a precondition for the government of population, it is not surprising that the question of frontiers occupies little space in his narrative.But there is another explanation for the relative absence of questions of frontiers in Foucault’s writing on governmentality. And here we have to acknowledge that, framed as it is previously, this is a problematic question. For it risks the kind of retrospective fallacy which projects a set of very contemporary issues and concerns onto Foucault’s time. It is probably fair to speculate that frontiers and border security was not a political issue during the 1970s in the way that it is today in many western states. ”Borders” had yet to be constituted as a sort of meta-issue, capable of condensing a whole complex of political fears and concerns, including globalization, the loss of sovereignty, terrorism, trafficking and unchecked immigration. The question of the welfare state certainly was an issue, perhaps even a meta-issue, when Foucault was lecturing, and it is perhaps not coincidental that he should devote so much space to the examination of pastoralism. But not the border. The point is not to suggest that Foucault’s work evolved in close,
Humanitarian Government
Before I address the question of the humanitarian border, it is necessary to explain what I understand by the humanitarian. Here my thinking has been shaped by recent work that engages the humanitarian not as a set of ideas and ideologies, nor simply as the activity of certain nongovernmental actors and organizations, but as a complex domain possessing specific forms of governmental reason. Fassin’s work on this theme is particularly important. Fassin demonstrates that humanitarianism can be fruitfully connected to the broader field of government which Foucault outlined, where government is not a necessary attribute of states but a rationalized activity than can be carried out by all sorts of agents, in various contexts, and towards multiple ends. At its core, ”Humanitarian government can be defined as the administration of human collectivities in the name of a higher moral principle which sees the preservation of life and the alleviation of suffering as the highest value of action” (Fassin 2007: 151). As he goes on to stress, the value of such a definition is that we do not see a particular state, or a non-state form such as a nongovernmental organization, as the necessary agent of humanitarian action. Instead, it becomes possible to think in terms of a complex assemblage, comprising particular forms of humanitarian.reason, specific forms of authority (medical, legal, spiritual) but also certain technologies of government – such as mechanisms for raising funds and training volunteers, administering aid and shelter, documenting injustice, and publicizing abuse. Seen from this angle humanitarianism appears as a much more supple, protean thing. Crucially, it opens up our ability to perceive ”a broader political and moral logic at work both within and outside state forms” (ibid.).
If the humanitarian can be situated in relation to the analytics of government, it can also be contextualized in relation to the biopolitical. ”Not only did the last century see the emergence of regimes committed to the physical destruction of populations,” observes Redfield, ”but also of entities devoted to monitoring and assisting populations in maintaining their physical existence, even while protesting the necessity of such an action and the failure of anyone to do much more than this bare minimum” (2005: 329). It is this ”minimalist biopolitics,” as Redfield puts it, that will be so characteristic of the humanitarian. And here the accent should be placed on the adjective “minimalist” if we are not to commit the kind of move which I criticized above, namely collapsing everything new into existing Foucauldian categories. It is important to regard contemporary humanitarianism as a novel formation and a site of ambivalence and undecideability, and not just as one more instance of what Hardt and Negri (2000) might call global “biopolitical production.”The Birth of the Humanitarian Border
In a press release issued on June 29, 2007, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) publicized a visit which its then Director General, Brunson McKinley, was about to make to a ”reception centre for migrants” on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa (IOM 2007). The Director General is quoted as saying: ”Many more boats will probably arrive on Lampedusa over the summer with their desperate human cargo and we have to ensure we can adequately respond to their immediate needs.... This is why IOM will continue to work closely with the Italian government, the Italian Red Cross, UNHCR and other partners to provide appropriate humanitarian responses to irregular migrants and asylum seekers reaching the island.”
The same press release observes that IOM’s work with its ”partners” was part of a wider effort to improve the administration of the ”reception” (the word ”detention” is conspicuously absent) and ”repatriation” of ”irregular migrants” in Italy. Reception centers were being expanded, and problems of overcrowding alleviated. The statement goes on to observe that IOM had opened its office on Lampedusa in April 2006. Since that time ”Forced returns from Lampedusa [had] stopped.”
Lampedusa is a small Italian island located some 200 km south of Sicily and 300 km to the north of Libya. Its geographical location provides a clue as to how it is that in 2004 this Italian outpost first entered the spotlight of European and even world public attention, becoming a potent signifier for anxieties about an international migration crisis (Andrijasevic 2006). For it was then that this Italian holiday destination became the main point of arrival for boats carrying migrants from Libya to Italy. That year more than 10,000 migrants are reported to have passed through the ”temporary stay and assistance centre” (CPTA) the Italian state maintains on the island. The vast majority had arrived in overcrowded, makeshift boats after a perilous sea journey lasting up to several weeks. Usually these boats
are intercepted in Italian waters by the Italian border guards and the migrants transferred to the holding center on the island. Following detention, which can last for more than a month, they are either transferred to other CPTAs in Sicily and southern Italy, or expelled to Libya.Finally, there is a point to be made about humanitarianism, power and order. Those looking to locate contemporary humanitarianism within a bigger picture would perhaps follow the lead of Hardt and Negri. As these theorists of ”Empire” see things, NGOs like Amnesty International and Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) are, contrary to their own best intentions, implicated in global order. As agents of ”moral intervention” who, because they participate in the construction of emergency, ”prefigure the state of exception from below,” these actors serve as the preeminent ”frontline force of imperial intervention.” As such, Hardt and Negri see humanitarianism as ”completely immersed in the biopolitical context of the constitution of Empire” (Hardt and Negri 2000: 36).Humanitarianism, Borders, Politics
Foucauldian writing about borders has mirrored the wider field of governmentality studies in at least one respect. While it has produced some fascinating and insightful accounts of contemporary strategies and technologies of border-making and border policing, it has tended to confine its attention to official and often state-sanctioned projects. Political dynamics and political acts have certainly not been ignored. But little attention has been paid to the possibility that politics and resistance operate not just in an extrinsic relationship to contemporary regimes, but within them.12 To date this literature has largely failed to view politics as something constitutive and productive of border regimes and technologies. That is to say, there is little appreciation of the ways in which movements of opposition, and those particular kinds of resistance which Foucault calls ”counter conduct,” can operate not externally to modes of bordering but by means of ”a series of exchanges” and ”reciprocal supports” (Foucault 2007: 355).
There is a certain paradox involved when we speak of Foucault and frontiers. In certain key respects it could be said that Foucault is one of our most eminent and original theorists of bordering. For at the heart of one of his most widely read works – namely Discipline and Punish – what does one
find if not the question of power and how its modalities should be studied by focusing on practices of partitionment, segmentation, division, enclosure; practices that will underpin the ordering and policing of ever more aspects of the life of populations from the nineteenth century onwards. But while Foucault is interested in a range of practices which clearly pertain to the question of bordering understood in a somewhat general sense, one thing the reading of his lectures on security, governmentality and biopolitics reveals is that he had little to say explicitly about the specific forms of bordering associated with the government of the state. To put it differently, Foucault dealt at length with what we might call the microphysics of bordering, but much less with the place of borders considered at the level of tactics and strategies of governmentality.Recent literature has begun to address this imbalance, demonstrating that many of Foucault’s concepts are useful and important for understanding what kinds of power relations and governmental regimes are at stake in contemporary projects which are re-making state borders amidst renewed political concerns over things like terrorism and illegal immigration. However, the overarching theme of this chapter has been the need for caution when linking Foucault’s concepts to the study of borders and frontiers today. While analytics like biopolitics, discipline and neoliberalism offer all manner of insights, we need to avoid the trap which sees Foucault’s toolbox as something ready-made for any given situation. The challenge of understanding the emergent requires the development of new theoretical tools, not to mention the sharpening of older, well-used implements. With this end in mind the chapter has proposed the idea of the humanitarian border as a way of registering an event within the genealogy of the frontier, but also, although I have not developed it here, within the genealogy of citizenship.
What I have presented previously is only a very cursory overview of certain features of the humanitarianization of borders, most notably its inscription within regimes of knowledge, and its constitutive relationship to politics. In future research it would be interesting to undertake a fuller mapping of the humanitarian border in relation to certain trajectories of government. While we saw how themes of biopolitical and neoliberal government are pertinent in understanding the contemporary management of spaces like the detention center, it would seem especially relevant to consider the salience of pastoralism. Pastoral power has received far less attention within studies of governmentality than, say, discipline or liberal government (but see Dean 1999; Golder 2007; Hindess 1996; Lippert 2004). But here again, I suspect, it will be important to revise our concepts in the light of emergent practices and rationalities. For the ways in which NGOs and humanitarians engage in the governance of migrants and refugees today have changed quite significantly from the kinds of networks of care, self-examination and salvation which Foucault identified with pastoralism. For instance, and to take but one example, the pastoral care of migrants, whether in situations of sanctuary or detention, is not organized as a life-encompassing, permanent activity as it was for the church, or later, in a secular version, the welfare state. Instead, it is a temporary and ad hoc intervention. Just as Foucault’s notion of neo-liberalism was intended to register important transformations within the genealogy of liberal government, it may prove useful to think in terms of the neo-pastoral when we try to make better sense of the phenomenon of humanitarian government at/of borders, and of many other situations as well.
williamwalters.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2011-Foucau...
April 2023
Now you know where she really is.
Please visit and follow me on Facebook / Instagram / my Website.
Note: Do not invite this picture to private/hidden and so called award groups. And if you want to follow me but you neither share any public nor your own content, I'll ban you. I don't want assholes. Thank you.
……………………………….
Locandina:
pad.mymovies.it/filmclub/2016/04/067/coverlg_home.jpg
variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/fiore_06.jpg?w=100...
www.nonsolocinema.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/MG_76...
amnc.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/perdialogocarcere_post...
www.italyformovies.com/film-serie-tv-games/detail/56/fiore
----------------------------------------------------------
click to activate the small icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream (it means the monitor);
or…. Press the “L” button to zoom in the image;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
oppure…. premi il tasto “L” per ingrandire l'immagine;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
………………………………………………………………………
The municipality of Mongiuffi Melia (ME), not far from Taormina, is made up of two villages, Mongiuffi and Melia, separated by a valley, a bridge joins them, they climb up the opposite ridge of two mountains, looking at each other; in this municipality (defined as a "scattered municipality" for not having a single inhabited center), there are two patron saints, San Sebastian for Melia (his float was built with the money collected by Sicilian soldiers sent to the front, to fight in Greece during the Second World War, hoping in this way to receive His intercession to save their lives), and San Leonard di Noblac (or Abbot) for Mongiuffi; but in this municipality there is also the cult of the "Virgin Mary of the Chain", whose sanctuary attracts pilgrims from everywhere. I have made this description to introduce a singular coincidence that not everyone is aware of, and to do this it is necessary to describe the figure of Saint Leonard (a kind of Saint Francis), and that of the Virgin Mary of the Chain, trying to be concise. Saint Leonard was born in Orléans around 496 (and died in Noblac, on November 6 – the feast day – of 545 or 559), and for most of his life (very interesting) he lived as a hermit; one episode of his life in particular I would like to recall, he received from Clovis, king of the Franks, the privilege of being able to free those prisoners, who he believed had been unjustly imprisoned, so from that moment on, he incessantly committed himself to giving freedom to all those prisoners who were reduced to visibly critical conditions. Let us leave this Saint for a moment, the cult of the “Virgin Mary of the Chain”, this name given to the Blessed Virgin, derives from a prodigious event that occurred in Palermo in 1392, known as the “miracle of the chains”. In short, in August 1392 in Palermo, three men for a glaring miscarriage of justice, were sentenced to death by hanging, shortly before going up to the gallows a violent storm broke out, which forced the three unfortunates and the gendarmes to take refuge in the nearby church of Saint Mary of the Port, close to the sea, also called "Churc of the Chain" due to the presence of a chain that, when positioned, prevented the Saracen pirate ships from accessing the inside of the port; in this holy place, the three condemned, were tied with double chains, in the meantime the door of the church was barred, in fact the storm did not seem to stop and in addition night had come, clearly the execution was now postponed to the next day. The three desperate men, in chains, under the gaze of the gendarmes, approached the painting of the Madonna in tears, imploring her to intercede for them, a voice was heard coming from the painting, which reassured them of their new freedom, this while the chains broke, and the door of the little church was thrown open. From then on, the cult of the Virgin Mary of the Chain spread from Palermo throughout Sicily, and even beyond. Now let's get to the coincidences I mentioned before, both Saint Leonard and the Virgin Mary of the Chain (and also Her Child that She holds in Her arms) carry a long chain in their hands, in fact both the Saint and the Blessed Virgin have given freedom to prisoners, furthermore to access Mongiuffi Melia, coming from Letojanni, you have to pass through a tunnel, called "Gallery of Postoleone" dug in the rock in 1916, with bare hands or with pickaxe blows, as explosives could not be used, by 300 Austrian prisoners, during the First World War (and also on this occasion, in Mongiuffi Melia, there are prisoners forced to do forced labor). Finally, a curiosity, very often from the cult of the Virgin Mary of the Chain, comes a singular name, very common in these parts, both in the masculine with the name of "Cateno" and in the feminine "Catena" (to quote a well-known character, the writer Catena Fiorello). Furthermore, if it rains, whatever the religious procession-feast, with the float carried on the shoulders, the float with the saint does not come out, but if the rain arrives during the event, then the event becomes a source of strong psycho-physical stress for the devotee-bearers (not for the devotee-pullers or devotee-pushers...), as the ground made slippery by the rain (or perhaps, worse, by the presence of mud mixed with water) makes the route risky due to the possibility that one, or more, bearers, could slip, with the possible overturning of the float, and easily imaginable consequences.
The photographic story that I present here was created by assembling photographs taken on November 6, 2022, November 6 and 10 of this year 2024; the heart of the celebration-procession is when the priest hangs a large “cuddurra” (donut) on the hand of Sint Leonard, on that occasion small “cuddure” (donuts) are offered to the population (prepared by hand in the days preceding the procession); there are girls wearing a typical monk's habit-like dress, adorning their head with a veil, they belong to the congregation of the "daughters of Mary" (third order Carmelite); at the end of the procession, with the float that has returned to the church, we witness a rite that has the "affective" purpose of keeping it alive, it is done so as not to lose its memory, even if it has not lost its original meaning, what remains is now only a symbolic fact, it is the ritual of "weighing" (in some centers of Sicily, it has maintained its original meaning) a wooden board is placed "in balance" on one of the two beams that are used to carry the float with the Saint on the shoulders, at the two ends a child is placed on one side, and on the other side a sack with grain, filled until the weight of the grain reaches the weight of the child, and that grain will be given as a gift to the Saint, in reality the symbolic aspect of the procedure remains, and the donation is still made to the Saint, but in paper money.
Postscript: Our Lady of the Chain and Saint Leonard freed from chains, these as such, are not only physical, there are also psychic ones, and perhaps they are the worst….
……………………………..
Il comune di Mongiuffi Melia (ME), non molto distante da Taormina, è formato da due borghi, Mongiuffi e Melia, separati da una vallata, un ponte li congiunge, essi si inerpicano sul crinale opposto di due monti, guardandosi l’un l’altro; in questo comune (definito “comune sparso” per non avere un centro abitato unico), si hanno due santi patroni, San Sebastiano per Melia (la sua vara fu costruita con i soldi racimolati dai soldati Siciliani mandati al fronte, a combattere in Grecia durante la seconda guerra mondiale, sperando così facendo di ricevere la Sua intercessione per avere salva la vita), e San Leonardo di Noblac (o Abate) per Mongiuffi; ma in questo comune vi è anche il culto per la “Madonna della Catena”, il cui santuario attira pellegrini da ogni dove. Ho fatto questa descrizione, per introdurre una singolare coincidenza della quale non tutti sono a conoscenza, e per far questo è necessario descrivere la figura di San Leonardo (una specie di San Francesco), e quella della Madonna della Catena, cercando di essere sintetico. San Leonardo nasce ad Orléans nel 496 circa (e morto a Noblac, il 6 novembre – giorno della festa – del 545 o 559), per gran parte della sua vita (interessantissima) visse da eremita; un episodio della sua vita in particolare desidero ricordare, egli riceve da Clodoveo, re dei Franchi, il privilegio di poter rendere liberi quei prigionieri, che egli riteneva fossero stati incarcerati ingiustamente, egli così, da quel momento, si impegna incessantemente a dare la libertà a tutti quei prigionieri che erano ridotti in condizioni visibilmente critiche. Lasciamo per un attimo questo Santo, il culto della “Madonna della Catena”, questo nome dato alla Beata Vergine, deriva da un evento prodigioso avvenuto a Palermo nel 1392, conosciuto come “miracolo delle catene”. In breve, nell’agosto del 1392 a Palermo, tre uomini per un eclatante errore giudiziario, furono condannati a morte per impiccagione, poco prima di salire sul patibolo si scatenò un violento temporale, che costrinse i tre malcapitati ed i gendarmi a riparare nella vicina chiesa di S. Maria del Porto, a ridosso del mare, detta anche “Chiesa della Catena” per la presenza di una catena che, quando posizionata, impediva alle navi pirata Saracene di accedere all’interno del porto; in questo luogo santo, i tre condannati, furono legati con doppie catene, nel mentre la porta della chiesa veniva sbarrata, infatti il temporale non accennava a smettere ed in più era subentrata la notte, chiaramente l’esecuzione era oramai rimandata al giorno dopo. I tre disperati, in catene, sotto lo sguardo dei gendarmi, si avvicinarono in lacrime al quadro della Madonna implorandola di intercedere per loro, dal quadro si udì provenire una voce, che li rassicurava sulla sopraggiunta libertà, questo mentre le catene si spezzavano, e la porta della chiesetta si spalancava. Da allora il culto per la Madonna della Catena si diffuse da Palermo in tutta la Sicilia, ed anche oltre. Veniamo adesso alle coincidenze di cui accennavo prima, sia San Leonardo che la Madonna della Catena (ed anche il suo Bimbo che regge in braccio) recano in mano una lunga catena, infatti sia San Leonardo che la Beata Vergine hanno dato la liberà a dei prigionieri, inoltre per accedere a Mongiuffi Melia, provenendo da Letojanni, si deve passare necessariamente da una galleria, chiamata “Galleria di Postoleone” scavata nel 1916 nella roccia, a mani nude o con colpi di piccone, in quanto non si poteva usare l’esplosivo, da parte di 300 prigionieri austriaci, durante la prima guerra mondiale (ed anche in questa occasione, a Mongiuffi Melia, si ha la presenza di prigionieri costretti ai lavori forzati). Infine una curiosità, molto spesso dal culto della Madonna della Catena, proviene un singolare nome, molto comune da queste parti, sia al maschile col nome di “Cateno” che al femminile, “Catena” (per citare un personaggio noto, la scrittrice Catena Fiorello). Inoltre, se piove, qualsiasi sia la processione-festa religiosa, con la vara portata in spalla, la vara col santo non esce, se invece la pioggia arriva durante la manifestazione, allora l’evento acquista per i devoti-portatori (non per i devoti-tiratori o devoti-spingitori…) un motivo di forte stress psico-fisico, in quanto il terreno reso scivoloso dalla pioggia (o magari, peggio, dalla presenza di fango misto ad acqua) rende rischioso il percorso per la possibilità che uno, o più portatori, possano scivolare, con il possibile ribaltamento della vara, e conseguenze facilmente immaginabili.
Il racconto fotografico che qui presento, è stato realizzato assemblando fotografie fatte il 6 novembre del 2022, il 6 ed il 10 novembre di quest’anno 2024; il fulcro della festa-processione è quando il sacerdote appende una grande cuddurra (ciambella) sulla mano di San Leonardo, in quella occasione piccole cuddure vengono offerte alla popolazione (preparate ed intrecciate a mano nei giorni precedenti la processione); sono presenti delle ragazze che indossano un tipico vestito “tipo saio di monaco”, adornando il capo con un velo, appartengono alla congregazione delle “figlie di Maria” (terz’ordine carmelitano); alla fine della processione, con la vara che ha fatto rientro in chiesa, si assiste ad un rito che ha lo scopo “affettivo” di tenerlo in vita, viene fatto per non disperderne la memoria, pur non avendo perso il suo significato originario, quel che resta è oramai solamente un fatto simbolico, è il rito della “pesatura” (in alcuni centri della Sicilia, esso ha mantenuto il suo significato originario) un asse di legno viene messo “in equilibrio” su di una delle due travi che servono a portare in spalla la vara col Santo, alle due estremità si pongono da un lato un bimbo/a, e dall’altro lato un sacco con del grano, riempito fino a quando il peso del grano raggiungerà il peso del bimbo/a, e quel grano verrà dato in dono al Santo, in realtà resta l’aspetto simbolico della procedura, la donazione viene ugualmente fatta al Santo, ma in cartamoneta.
P.S. La Madonna della Catena e San Leonardo liberavano dalle catene, queste in quanto tali, non sono solo fisiche, ci sono anche quelle psichiche, e forse sono le peggiori….
……………………………………………………………….
Some of you may not know just how hard it really is to be an "INFLUENCER" . When you're making "CONTENT" for your "FOLLOWERS" you have to be willing to put personal safety aside for the shot. Personally I appreciate their dedication to duty and loyalty to their sheeple!
If you should recognize these folks please let them know I'm open to having a "COLLAB" with them even though I think they're self absorbed narcissistic twits! 😄
Model - Rachel Kenney
Support us on Patreon to get first looks and exclusive content!