At first I did not want to believe it, so much that I went to the web searching for another Sicily that I did not know, lost in California or maybe in New Zealand.
But it was precisely that land from which these photos come from, the south of Italy’s largest triangular island.
Then I realized I did not recognize it, not because it was different, but because I saw it through the eyes of those who saw something different from me.
Paolo Raeli is a young Italian-Danish photographer that is living his youth in Sicily, a frenzied, passionate, dangerous, romantic, unbridled youth. And there are all these adjectives contained in these shots thanks to the colors, the shades, the missed focus and to the point of views.
The characters in these photos, which seem selected for a new Xavier Dolan’s movie, are nothing more than his best friends. The surrounding context is not San Diego, despite the lights and beaches, but a very nearest land.
Because beauty doesn’t exist only in an inaccessible surfer’s advertisement set, let alone in an unreal show for teenagers.
Follow his work on Instagram and on his personal website.
