PISCATURI [sicilian fishermen]
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Dedicated to my irreplaceablefamily and to you, my friend.
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It's silly not to hope. It's a sin. Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
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“Without the sea i cannot live”
Damiano Patania , Captain
Jul 3, 2013 We are fishing tuna and swordfish, it's something like 4.00 am and we haven't really slept for the past 20 hours. An 18 mile filament of hooks and mackerel baits have been tossed into the deep sea practicing a ancient technique is called “conzo”. Now we wait. Is it impossible to predict which fish will be fooled into the trap and how it will fight for its freedom. Yesterday we caught a mighty Tuna fish which stained the whole deck in dense blood, and even the lens of my camera. It didn't want to give up. The wooden planks of the deck shivered and cracked under the powerful strokes of the tuna's tail. The fish would not stop fidgeting and struggling till its heart was taken out and even then, that small beating muscle, kept pulsing frantically as if it could hold on forever. It's hard to imagine such a life when we buy a tinned tuna or we get half a kilo of mackerels from our local fishmonger. Nights spent coiling and releasing , catching and missing, defeating and being defeated. Years of sea, salt, fish guts and coffee. With age their eyes they become two tiny fissures forced to face the sun and the battering wind. The knowledge of the territory has grown unbelievably accurate and their endurance seems to have reached the point of needing little or no sleep.
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I take some notes laying on my small berth, located in a niche under the prow deck. The sea is furious tonight and for the first time since i started this experience I may be sick. I write about Braccio di Ferro (named after the italian version of popay) and his life spent fishing since he was a child, when his mother told him “buscati u' pani” - go and gain your bread. I wonder if I could do as Captain Pino, who goes fishing even on sunday among waves and nets after an exhausting week because “it's what I love doing” . I recoil fragments of scattered conversations. “My boat is my second wife”, “without sea i cannot live”, “Coffee is our holy water”, “I Fucking hate this life, but i could not imagine doing anything else ” . I got with me a old moth eaten copy of “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway. It reminds me that most of us live a life of citified ease and comfort. A life far removed from harsh confrontations with nature. Laying on my small wobbly bed , somewhere fur flung in the open sea, I wonder How many “Santiagos” are out there.
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You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?
Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
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Fut-tat-tin-ni / fut:a'tin:i /verb(used with object)
1. Sicilian exclamation used to exhort somebody to assume a more careless and negligent attitude toward a situation, something or somebody. 2. Take it easy, keep calm, let’s forget about it, drop it, don’t give a shit.
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Piscaturi Would have not been possible without the constant help of my family. I thanks the Portopalo Fisherman association “Assopesca” for the support and the helpfulness. The captains Pino Quattrocchi, Corrado Signorelli, Angelo Cannarella, Franco Marina, Damiano Patania for welcoming me onboard. I thanks the crews for their will to meet my needs and bear my camera!. I thanks braccio di ferro for introducing me into his life. I especially thanks my dear friends Carolina Piteira Rade Vukcevic and Yining He for giving me a couch in London, helping me through the editing of my pictures, correcting my spelling mistakes and giving me always good advices but mostly for their purest, unique friendship. ITA: Piscaturi non sarebbe stato possibl senza l'aiuto e il suporto costante della mia famiglia. Ringrazio L'associazione Pesca Portopalo (assopesca) per il supporto e l'apertura al progetto. I capitani delle navi Pino Quattrocchi, Corrado Signorelli, Angelo Cannarella, Franco Marina, Damiano Patania per avermi accettato a bordo. Ringrazio i membri dell'equipaggio per essere venuti incontro alle mie esigenze e aver tollerato la mia macchina fotografica. Ringrazio Braccio Di ferro per essere stato cosi gentile da raccontarmi della sua vita. Ringrazio specialmente i miei cari amici Carolina Piteira Rade Vukcevic e Yining He per avermi offerto un divano a Londra, per essesere stati sempre pronti a darmi una mano e darmi le loro opinioni. Ma soprattutto per la loro più pura e unica amicizia Roberto Zampino is a Sicilian Documentary/portrait photographer. He has been based in Italy, Cyprus and London working as a photographer and photography teacher. He is specialized in travel, sport and story telling photography conveying powerful pictures embedded with his passion and commitment to the subject. He is a “out there” nomad photographer with the particular talent of adapting to any situation and environment creating strong connections with the subjects of his photography . Visit his website www.robertozampinophoto.com ro roberto zampino photographer on facebook. ITA: Roberto Zampino è un fotografo documentarista/ritrattista. Ha vissuto e lavorato come fotografo e insegnante di fotografia a Cipro, in Italia e Londra. è specializzato in fotografia di viaggio, sport e "story telling" , producendo fotografie che combinano il suo coinvolgimento con i soggetti con un estetica unica e mai distaccata. Roberto è un fotografo "out there" , nomade, con il particolare talento di adattarsi ad ogni situazione e ambiente creando legami unici con i soggetti delle sue fotografie .