Ballarò Marketplace, Palermo - Italy

This work tries to communicate the intense atmosphere full of Sicilian tradition that thoroughly spreads through this place. Ballarò is the beating heart of the neighborhood of Albergheria, in Palermo.
A walk among the stands of this market is an opportunity to explore the past of the island, of those men in the street mastering the art of getting by...
The narrow streets are completely invaded by wooden boxes. They contain the goods for sale, continuously announced by the typical Arabic origin singsong of the merchants. The yells advertise the qualities of the goods and the bargains.
The fish is illuminated, even in broad daylight, by large lamps that bring out the freshness of this great market place of attraction.


This is the way how we learn
to survive
we will succeed again
And, if the foolery of the world
shall leave a desert
only to the cockroaches
somewhere
there will be a Palermitan
frying "panellas"...

(cit. homo panormitanus by Daniele Billitteri)

Photographs and text by Francesco Guttadauro.