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30 Photos That Tell A Story About Tragic Events And Different Cultures Captured By Antonio Cascio
Interview With ArtistFrom horrible life events like the Sicily wildfires or the Morocco earthquake to joyous traditions like the Barranquilla Carnival or Yemanjá celebration in Salvador de Bahia, Antonio Cascio captures award-winning shots across the world.
Antonio is a photojournalist from Sicily, Italy who frequently travels and takes powerful images. Each image by Antonio tells a story, reflecting the photographer's unique perspective and deep commitment to storytelling through photography.
In 2020 he started to work from Latino America. He is now a photographer stringer for Reuters News Agency in Colombia. He also works as a team with Colombian journalist Natalia Torres Garzón, focusing on Indigenous communities, social movements, environmental conflicts, and discriminated groups in Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico
So, without further ado, we invite you to explore various cultures through the lens of Antonio.
More info: Instagram
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"LOVE IS LOVE.
The United Nations in 2004, proclaimed May 17 as the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biophobia, in commemoration of the day on which homosexuality was eliminated from the international classification of mental illnesses by the General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO)."
Antonio Cascio was born in Sicily in 1985. He graduated in Foreign Languages and Modern Cultures at the University of Palermo and post-graduated in Documentary Photography at the IDEP School of Barcelona. His works have been awarded at the Paris Photo Prize 2023 - 2024, International Photography Award, Budapest Inernational Photography Award, and European Photography Award.
His photographs have been published in The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, CNN, BBC, DW, El País, Mongabay, etc..
"For all the women who fight for their rights, for the 8 of March of resistance, from Colombia to the rest of the world.
Photo Archive from Bogotá, June 2022."
ACAB on her face covering means All Cops Are B*st*rds if I'm not wrong
To learn more about Antonio and his approach, Bored Panda reached out to the photojournalist, who kindly answered our questions.
First of all, we were curious about what inspired Antonio to the world of photography and what drew him to travel to places like Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico.
He responded: “I began my journey into the world of photojournalism when I moved to London in 2013. I started capturing the lifestyle of the squats community, punks, and anarchists. Subsequently, I decided to enhance my professional skills and moved to Barcelona to pursue a course in photo documentary. Whilst in Barcelona, I was part of an activist photographers' collective, documenting the social struggles across Europe and showcasing my photos in independent media outlets in Catalonia and Italy. However, it wasn't until I immersed myself in Latin America that a profound transformation occurred in both my life and my approach to photography.”
"One year ago I was documenting and assisting at the inauguration of Lula as new president of Brazil. I have never seen so many people, around 200,000, showing their happiness and celebrating all together at the same place for the same reason. That impressed me, even though I totally understood their reason. After four years of repression and violence by the far-right government of Jair Bolsonaro, that day different groups of civil society felt the possibility of a real change in policy and the hope of the end to racism, sexism, and homophobic persecution."
"La Guajira 'School Bus'. Desert life.
The more difficult life becomes, the more ingenious people are."
Antonio shared the most challenging story that he encountered while working in various places.
“My most compelling and challenging story took place in the La Guajira desertic region in the north of Colombia. It centered around the Wayuu Indigenous children living in dire conditions and passing away due to a lack of water and food. I capture this story through my photos after immersing myself in their community for nearly a month, sharing their daily life, and truly understanding their struggles. This story was published by The Guardian. The article was written by my partner, Natalia Torres Garzón, with whom I shared the experience in La Guajira, and these pictures have been awarded at the Paris Photo Prize in the "State of the World" competition,” shared photojournalist.
"Photo session with Txai Suruí. A 24-year-old indigenous woman known internationally for her fight against climate change. Photos were taken at the government palace in Brasilia on the occasion of the inauguration of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva, January 4, 2023"
"On the road postals. Tatacoa desert, Huila, Colombia."
We also asked what Antonio hopes for people to feel or understand when they look at his photos.
He wrote: “I hope that people can understand and empathize with the issues I aim to convey through my photos and ultimately learn from them.”
"Portrait of one of the persons who bravely fought for 7 days, night and day, against the fire in the mountains of Bogotá."
"3rd day of wildfire in the mountains of Bogotá. Just happening a new one in el Cerro de la Antena. 24 January 2024."
"Noreli Uriana visits her son’s grave, a small concrete block. Wayúu people do not put the names of newborns on graves; the black and white grave with no inscription to the far right is also that of a baby."
"Miguel Antonio Yepas (57), a Wiwa traditional authority from the Conchamake village, took refuge, with 33 more families from his community, in the Coliseum of Riohacha. They are the second wave of Wiwa displaced due to an armed conflict between two illegal groups trying to take control of their territory. A total of 500 indigenous Wiwas run away from their village. Miguel Antonio left behind animals and a three-hectare plantation. Agriculture is a food and money source for his family. "I lost more than 10 million pesos (£2 thousand approximately) on cassava production alone, and more money on the rest. I would like to go back, but I'm afraid of my life", said Miguel Antonio with a sad voice. He had already suffered forced displacement in 2002 due to a paramilitary incursion in his community that left 16 victims. At that time he spent three years hidden in the mountains before coming back to his village. Now they have spent almost 3 months in the two government structures, feeling like they are living in a cage, without knowing if ever they will come back home."
"Colombia is very close to banning bullfighting. The Congress' last decision that should have been taken today has been delayed until tomorrow. During the meeting, a group of animalists performed in front of the Congress in Bogotá waiting for the Government's decision that did not happened."
"On the last day of the Barranquilla Carnival, Joseilito, the heart and soul of the Carnival, passes away. During the parade, the Queen of the Carnival and citizens, organized into various groups, are representing Joselito's widows for his funeral procession. They carry his coffin, grieving as they mourn his loss throughout the parade."
"Sicilia On Fire! Forestry Corps helicopter in action to extinguish the fire in Monte Sparagio. August 5, 2022."
"Yemanjá celebration in Salvador de Bahia, in Rio Vermelho. Last pictures from Bahía, saying goodbye to this amazing land."
"On May 22, 2018, the ZAD (Zone a Defender) in Notre Dame des Landes, France, was suffering the sixth day of a violent attack, in a war scene, where thousands of riot police, with helicopters, drones, bulldozers, and tanks faced a hundred of eco-activists. That day, a dramatic event marked the end of the eviction attempt, a 21-year-old activist lost his hand due to the explosion of a stun grenade and was arrested for participating in the resistance action.
The ZAD history: In 2008, when the French government announced the project to build an airport in Notre Dame des Landes, an area made up mainly of fields, farms, and forests, in a total of 1,600 hectares, a group of activists started an occupation of the territory, to stop the airport project and create a self-managed community in its place. A life based on self-construction, land cultivation, and livestock farming that has been repeatedly interrupted by police forces, which have tried unsuccessfully to evict the occupants. Until the beginning of 2018, when the French government definitively abandoned the airport project. It was at this moment that the State negotiations began to put an end to the self-managed and occupied project, proposing the regularization of the occupied spaces in exchange for their inhabitants submitting to the laws of the French State and presenting agricultural projects. The deadline: is April 2018.
The proposal creates division among the 'zadistas', which makes resistance difficult, and the first eviction operation, despite a week of strong confrontations, could not be stopped. A third of the buildings were destroyed.
After these conflicts, the State gives one more month of time for new projects to be presented. In mid-May 2018 the clashes began again, which continued for six days with an army of more than a thousand riot police for one side and a hundred activists on the other, reinforced by supporters from all over Europe, who know the ZAD from their own experience or from having heard about it, and who were arriving every day to join the front of the resistance."
"Carmen de Luquez, Wayuu leader, with her face painted in the Wayuu tradition, stands inside the dry jaguey of her village Calabasito."
"On the occasion of Earth Day, I like to remember all those people fighting for mother earth, risking their lives and freedom to save nature against mining, industry, and capitalism.
From the Misak fight against Smurfit Kappa, (Cauca, Colombia), la ZAD resistance camp (France), Nasa, Inca, Kamentsa and peasants march against Libero Cobre (Mocoa, Colombia) to the Hambach forest resistance camp (Germany)."
"Día de la Gran Parada, Carnaval de Barranquilla. The Barranquilla Carnival is one of the most important folkloric festivals in Colombia, also one of the best-known carnivals in Latin America, and an intangible cultural heritage of humanity proclaimed by UNESCO in 2003. It is a set of cultures, native, African, and Spanish that is reflected in the dances, the masks, the floats, the dresses and the music."
"In December 2000 the United Nations decided that the 18th will be the International Migrants Day, to remember their rights and to look every year for solutions. Now, in 2023, most of the western countries are trying to close their borders, criminalizing migrants and watching the other side without any good solution."
Most of those migrating have to BECAUSE of "western nations" and their foreign policy. How many know that the UK and US are selling weapons to Saudi Barbaria to help them commit genocide in Yemen? It's not in the news.
"After the rescue operation has ended and most of the humanitarian organizations left, the earthquake areas on the Atlas Mountains of Morocco are left alone. The villages most affected are now looking like ghost areas. Survivors are sleeping in tents close to their villages and waiting for government help, which nobody knows when it will happen. The rows of graves appear on the side of the roads. What remains is the solidarity of the Moroccan people that independently bring any kind of help to the people affected. The cold and rainy season is coming and it will be hard for survivors to live without their home."
"On the night of September 29, a fire destroyed one of the migrant labor camps in the fields of Sicily, southern Italy. A young man from Senegal passed away, and about a hundred people of African origin lost everything they had. This camp had been in existence for over 10 years, and there are many like it in southern Italy. This is not the first time a fire has resulted in the death of a migrant, but institutions have never sought solutions to improve their conditions. However, they were quick to address the issue when the pandemic closed borders and the Italian government sought ways to facilitate permits and continue to benefit from cheap labor."
"A fire forces the evacuation of a few houses in Calatafimi. The flames started from the woods near the Sicilian village and then burned some abandoned houses and damaged others. 18 August 2022."
The Great Fire of London (1666) officially claimed only 6 lives, although historians have claimed there must have been many more. Yes, officially only 6 lives.
"May 1st in Bogotá. Massive march where different society groups took to the streets in favor of the Government of Gustavo Petro. During his speech in the square, the Colombian President announced the end of the diplomatic relationship with Israel. Colombia is now the second country in Latin America to make this decision."
"Sicily on Fire, August 2024. Every day Sicilian fields are burning around the island. Heat, drought and strong wind make an explosive cocktail for wildfires and for arsonists to expand danger and destruction behind it. Firefighters and forest guards spend their summer time down 40º temperature and the strong sun confronting at the same time the flames and the smog that burn their skin and their eyes. Buseto area, Trapani, 12/08/2024."
"On April 28, a student march to commemorate the day when the 2021 national strike began in Colombia, ended with heavy clashes with riot police in front of the Bogotá university."