Shortlisted for the 2020 PARIS PHOTO – APERTURE PHOTOBOOK AWARDS
Ex aequo mention Premio Bastianelli 2021
Listed as one of the best Photo Books of 2020 by Internazionale
With the patronage of Amnesty International
'O Post Mio is an eight-year photographic work in which Francesca Leonardi followed the life of Claudia, a woman who, together with her two daughters, has occupied a house in Parco Saraceno. Parco Saraceno is located in Villagio Coppola, in Castel Volturno, near Naples. In the 1960s, when Villaggio Coppola was built, destroying a rich pinewood forest, it was the largest illegal urban agglomeration in Europe.
Claudia’s life resembles the fate of this pine forest. On her body have been poured flows of violence and marginalization that have transfigured her life. Through her life, the author tried to recount how a territory can determine a person’s life. Images of external and internal landscapes are alternated to show the continuity of the unauthorized building that enters the life of a family, how these signs affected their choices. The book, divided into two parts, has on one side the photographic part with the images of these 8 years, interspersed with scans of images from Claudia’s past. On the other side a booklet containing Claudia’s story told through the author’s experience and words. In this way, Francesca Leonardi tried to blend past and present together, trying to bring out how Claudia’s present, apparently so daring and casual, is tightly conditioned by her childhood, the abandonment by her parents, the incessant search for a family balance she never had.
«The photographer’s eye remains focused on the small moments — everydayness and the banal. Moments that are harsh but telling. The book intrigued me the moment I opened it and discovered two different kinds of readings — phrases and fragments, and a strong visual narrative.» — Susan Meseilas
«The book tells a story of violence and marginalization without judgement or complicity, instead offering a sensitive, intimate and truthful account.» —Amnesty International
Francesca Leonardi
Born in Rome, where she currently lives, she studied psychology and sociology at the University of Rome and then photography at the South Florida Art Center (Miami) and at the International Center of Photography (New York). She lived in the United States for eight years where she discovered photography as a way to understand reality. She started off using the language of fashion photography to stage stories, gradually shifting her interest towards social reportage, when in 2004 she collaborated with director Giulia Amati on a video documentary project concerning the economic and social relations between Mexico and United States. In 2006 she moved back to Italy working primarily on immigration and urbanization issues. In 2009 she gained a special mention at the Fotoleggendo festival for her project Bed dreams, on the living conditions of migrants; the same year she was invited by L.A.F. Foundation to the Czech Republic to report on the state of democracy in the country in occasion of its 20th anniversary. In 2010 and 2011 she was finalist of the Amilcare Ponchielli Award. In 2011 she began a yearlong photographic investigation on Egypt and its post-revolution phases. Her work has appeared in numerous printed and online publications such as: L’Espresso, Internazionale, Io Donna, Gioia, Marie Claire, Foto8, The Independent, The Wall Street Journal, Die Zeit, Photo Raw, among others. Her editorial work is distributed worldwide by Contrasto agency.
Elena Boille, Internazionale, 15/12/2020
I libri di fotografia dell’anno
Adalgisa Marrocco, Huffington Post, 21/06/2019
Nel cuore delle case occupate al Parco Saraceno attraverso gli occhi di una mamma sola
Alessia Arcolaci, Vanity Fair, 26/05/2019
O Post Mio, quanto la nostra terra ci cambia la vita?
Redazione, Internazionale, 07/05/2019
Il posto di Claudia
Liliana Barchiesi
Maria Clara Macrì
Mary Ellen Mark
Francesco Francaviglia
Annamaria Belloni
Emiliano Mancuso
Maurizio Cogliandro
Silvia Camporesi
Annette Schreyer
Elena Perlino
Euro Rotelli
Euro Rotelli
