Domenico Notarangelo: The Photographer of Southern Italy's 'Peasant Saints'

Domenico Notarangelo (1930–2016), a photographer from Sammichele di Bari, documented the rural civilization of Basilicata and Puglia with over 100,000 images. In 1963, he worked alongside Pier Paolo Pasolini during the filming of 'The Gospel According to St. Matthew' in Matera's Sassi, capturing peasants, women in black, and children playing football. Notarangelo, who was expelled from seminary for his communist sympathies, later moved to Matera in the late 1950s and worked as a correspondent for L'Unità. His photography, compared to Henri Cartier-Bresson and Sebastião Salgado, focused on the dignity of peasant life, religious festivals, and family scenes with animals. Critic Goffredo Fofi described his work as a 'participatory and loving documentation project.' An exhibition titled 'Era come entrare nelle cose' at Corner MAXXI, curated by Francesco Cascino and Giuseppe Decio Notarangelo, runs until September 5 and is accompanied by a catalog published by Edizioni Giannitelli.