Letizia Battaglia Retrospective at Palazzo Reale in Milan

A major retrospective of Letizia Battaglia's photography opens at Palazzo Reale in Milan, featuring over 300 images. The exhibition, titled "Storie di Strada" and curated by Francesca Alfano Miglietti, traces Battaglia's career from the 1970s onward, including many previously unseen works. Battaglia, born in Palermo in 1935, was the first female photographer to work for an Italian newspaper (L'Ora di Palermo) and the first European woman to win the Eugene Smith Award in 1985. She founded the Centro Internazionale di Fotografia in Palermo. The show challenges her label as a "mafia photographer," presenting her as a photographer of life and humanity. Battaglia moved to Milan in 1971, where she began her photography career. The exhibition includes images of mafia violence alongside portraits of everyday life, children, and women, such as the iconic "Donna che fuma" (Catania, 1984). Battaglia emphasizes that her work is about necessity and hope, not messages.