Take portraits of Sicilian men? Pick me! Pick me! Have you met me? I love portrait photography. And I love it more for some reason when I’m in another country. There are a few places where I have found it more conducive to shoot portraits than others. Cuba and Patagonia immediately come to mind. In this post I’m going to focus on Sicilian faces. You will see mostly men here as they are the ones who for one reason or another are in public spaces especially late afternoon.
The fisherman
As much as I like to photograph people I still get a bit nervous when I ask for a portrait. Being a retired foreign language teacher I know that the majority of people love it when you try to communicate in their language no matter how fractured it is. This gentleman was busy at the dock when I approached him speaking in my rusty Italian. It was good enough for him to grudgingly give me permission. I was kinda surprised because he was pretty grumpy. Apparently this was his expression for “Sure! Have at it.”
The fishmonger
This vendor’s face struck me immediately. It’s strong, masculine, and kind. I was so happy he was amenable to my approach. I’m sure he would have preferred I bought his grouper!
The Don
This gentleman was pleasant enough but for some reason when I took his photo I had kind of a negative vibe. There was something about both his expression and his demeanor that made me feel he was ‘connected’. After all, I was in Sicily. This seemed to me to be a classic Sicilian Face. I was also at one time ‘married to the mob’ in a manner of speaking. But if I tell you I will have to kill you. We will save that for another post.
Surprise! A feminine portrait
This young woman was waiting with many others for the sunset in Ortigia, Sicily. The drama of her beautiful big hat and sunglasses caught my eye. The head photographer of the group we were with urged me to get closer. He was right. I was thrilled with the result and so was she. I sent it to her.
Ladies: Life is not fair when it comes to craggy faces.
Life is written all over these Sicilian faces. In a spectacular way, in my opinion. It’s the kind of face I love to photograph. But let’s face it, Ladies. Many of us would be signing up for botox right about now. I admit to the vanity. I hope my face is interesting as well. But I hope it’s not because of craggy wrinkles. And no, I did not get botox. by the time I thought about it I was told I was too old!
Put me in camp Jane Fonda! She looks fab….even with all the ‘work’.
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