Photographer Fulvio Bugani captures solitude on the island of Sicily

My photos have no statement.

Fulvio Bugani, born in 1974, is an Italian freelance documentary photographer with over 20 years of experience in photography. He actively collaborates with associations and NGOs , such as: Medecins Sans Frontiere & Amnesty International on social reporting topics.

His works have also been published in the world's leading prestigious magazines and websites such as TIME LightBox, The Guardian, LFI - Leica Fotografie International and Cubadebate. Recently, Fulvio Bugani organized the Sicily exhibition in Hanoi to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Italy (1973-2023).

The event aims to introduce to the Vietnamese public the image of Sicily (Italy). The exhibition is open free of charge from 9am to 6pm from August 18 to 31 at 18 Le Phung Hieu, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

Italian photographer Fulvio Bugani was a war correspondent (Photo: Character provided).

Accordingly, Fulvio Bugani brings to the exhibition 20 selected photos, encapsulating and describing the quintessence of Sicily with photos of the people and life of this land.

Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, photographer Fulvio Bugani said that the 20 photos in this Sicily exhibition are 20 stories that he saw on the island of Sicily.

He used documentary and abstract language and Italian romanticism to tell the story.

"I used my camera to record the lives of people in Sicily. People here have a lot of nostalgia, loneliness and sadness, I recorded that moment with photos... I wanted to delve into the emotions in each photo, they are simple images of life but move the viewer," said Fulvio Bugani.

The Italian photographer shared that this is a solo exhibition, because he spent a long time taking photos in Cuba, he found that Sicily and Cuba have similarities, from history and culture, so he took photos of this island that brought him many emotions: In Sicily there are very real and simple things... so he wanted to take photos of his emotions here.

"My photos do not have any manifesto, they are just suggestions to the viewer. Photography is no longer a document but it is gradually transforming into an artistic language," Fulvio Bugani confided.

Fulvio Bugani felt the loneliness and nostalgia in Sicily to take these photos to bring to the exhibition in Hanoi recently (Photo: Character provided).

The photographer, born in 1974, shared that the photo collection in the exhibition was like a time travel back to when he was 16 years old. At that time, it was the first time he traveled to Argentina.

When he arrived in the new land, the impression he had was that the Italian immigrants hugged him and cried because of homesickness. He realized that the sadness, loneliness, and nostalgic beauty of immigrants had power over him…

When he returned to Sicily, he also saw young people from 20 to 40 years old often immigrating to Germany or Northern Italy... to do business and live. That was "abundant" material for Fulvio Bugani to compose.

I want a heterosexual photography project

Fulvio Bugani added that he took photos of life, recording the simple images of honest working people.

He said: "When I came to Vietnam, I went to many places in about a month, from the Mekong Delta, to the fish market, to Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City and of course Hanoi... I also wanted to stay in the northern region of Vietnam. Because I wanted to focus on the minorities - not exactly ethnic people but a small group of people in a noisy, bustling city.

I will continue this project in the future in Vietnam. Currently, I am implementing a project of taking photos for heterosexual people. I have done a series of photos like this in Cuba and want to do a series of photos like this in Vietnam."

Life in Sicily through the artistic eyes of Fulvio Bugani (Photo: Character provided).

Speaking about his transition from freelance war correspondent to visual photographer, Fulvio Bugani recounts that in 2013, he took on a photography project for Doctors Without Borders, between Congo and Uganda.

Fulvio Bugani worked in the crisis area and witnessed images of people injured in knife fights, killed in refugee camps, and executed by stoning for crimes.

Fulvio Bugani has had a successful series of photos in the refugee camp in Congo, where he faced many difficult situations. He met and recorded the images of refugees who had lost everything in their lives and had to live in extremely difficult conditions, facing and being close to poverty, life and death.

After 15 days of working in Congo, he returned to Kampala where his friend was waiting for him. She told him that she was fine and that the small hotel where she was staying was very nice because someone came to clean the room every day.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered the painful images of the refugee camp and realized very clearly the contrast between the two fates even though they were very close to each other. Fulvio Bugani was haunted and decided from then on not to participate in taking photos in the crisis area anymore.

When asked: "In the 4.0 era, photography is now competitive and full of challenges such as smartphones, or taking photos using AI technology (Artificial Intelligence - PV), what do you think about this?".

Fulvio Bugani said: "When smartphones, or AI, came out, photographers shifted, they no longer photographed what they saw but what they felt. When working with people through the camera, I saw a connection between people and people. I limited the changes to the reality of the photo such as increasing, decreasing the light, post-processing of the photo...".

The Italian photographer said that this was his third time coming to Vietnam, and he really liked the scenery and cuisine of Vietnam. Fulvio Bugani likes the diversity of the cuisine, from seafood, rice noodle dishes, to fruits like red dragon fruit and mangosteen.

One of the photos that brings visual appeal to viewers at this exhibition (Photo: Character provided).

One of Fulvio Bugani's most notable achievements is the World Press Photo award for his photo series about transgender people in Indonesia in 2015.

He was also one of the 12 finalists at the Leica Oskar Barnack Awards in 2016 for his photojournalism of Cuba. Since 2017, he has been one of Leica's global ambassadors for the Leica M10 camera.

His philosophy in life is to care about the daily lives of ordinary people, because for him the only way to improve himself is by learning from others anytime, anywhere. The places he often visits are places with diverse lives and cultures such as: Cuba, Kenya, Indonesia, Turkey and Georgia.

Source link: https://dantri.com.vn/van-hoa/nhiep-anh-gia-fulvio-bugani-chup-anh-bang-su-co-don-o-hon-dao-sicily-20230819092842569.htm