Blog Archives
cleaned fish
Just the night before, these fish had been swimming around in the Mediterranean. And when I saw them, they were being cleaned (quickly, by someone with a lot of practice) before maybe heading across the market to the man wearing a red apron frying up platters of fish.
La Vucciria Market
Palermo, Sicily
photographed 8.30.2022
the sunglasses guy
This sunglasses vendor was happy to pose for a picture. I mean, I don’t speak Sicilian and he didn’t speak English, but I’m assuming that my request to photograph him, which included a gesture toward my camera, was answered in the affirmative, because he struck a pose.
Palermo, Sicily
photographed 9.1.2022
mixed use street
We’d found this market during one of our daytime meanderings. It was bustling, full of activities like the one guy who was cleaning the night’s catch of sardines or the other guy who’d set up a kitchen beside an arcade and was frying up plates of fish or the people using the public fountain to wash dishes or the people enjoying lunch.
But then we heard the place takes on a whole new feel after dark – it was described to us “as like a disco” – so of course, on our last night in Palermo, we had to go see. It was different. It was a lot different. The fish cleaners and fish fryers were gone. No one was doing the dishes. And of course it was too late for lunch. But there were even more people than we’d seen in the daytime. There was a little place selling aperol spritzes. There were tiny cafes all over the place. There were diners. There were pedestrians. (There were four American photographers.) There were motorbikes threading their way through it all.
It was hard to leave.
La Vucciria Market
Palermo, Sicily
photographed 8.31.2022
net repairs
In addition to selling fish from their boats, the fishermen use their afternoon at the docks to repair their nets. They’ll be heading out again in a few hours, and make good use of every minute.
I can get a giant tangle in thread just attempting to sew on a button. Watching these two doing something more complicated and much more fiscally important than fixing a button made me feel really quite inadequate in sweing-needle-based activities.
Sciacca, Sicily
photographed 9.5.2022
wednesday night at quattro canti
Our neighborhood in Palermo was perfect for our photographic explorations; it was easy to fill our time with wandering through the streets. There was always something interesting to see, and, naturally, to photograph. The streets were vibrant, full of activity.
This is at the intersection known as Quattro Canti, the center of the historic quarters of the city. It was always busy, and nighttime made for some interesting photos.
Have I mentioned how much I loved Sicily?
Palermo, Sicily
photographed 8.31.2022
One Day | One Image 