MY WAY

HOW I WAS BORN

PHOTOGRAPHER | JOURNALIST | ACTIVIST

Letizia Battaglia’s photographs portrayed the corruption and death in Mafia controlled Sicily in the 70s and 80s. She witnessed firsthand the terror in Palermo, her birthplace, where bodies of politicians, policemen, investigators, civil servants and errant Mafia members littered the streets.

Rebellious and unwilling to live conventionally, she married at sixteen, had three daughters, divorced and then began her journalistic career in Milan and later in Palermo for a left-wing newspaper. Armed only with her courage and camera, Letizia photo-documented the Mafia caused bloodshed and its assault on society. Over 600,000 of her shockingly graphic works served to represent the brutality of Sicilian life as well as earning her death threats. In a male-dominated industry Letizia forged a place for herself as Italy’s first female photojournalist to work at a major newspaper.

Letizia’s photographs were used as the only physical evidence to indict seven term Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. Her contributions to exposing the Mafia stranglehold are the cornerstones of her life changing efforts.

For several years, Letizia stopped taking pictures and entered politics as Palermo city council and then as Deputy of The Network, whose members were murdered by the Mafia for their opposition. She was instrumental in saving and reviving the historic center of Palermo and managed a publishing house as well as co-founding a monthly journal for women.

Duty and justice called again and Letizia is now involved in women's, prisoners’ and environmental issues. She has won numerous awards for activism in civil and human rights, including two lifetime achievement honors. In 2019, a documentary film based on her life, Shooting the Mafia, was released.