EMANUELE
OCCHIPINTI
Italy
A’ Muntagna
Mount Etna and the surrounding area is an island within an island. It’s the highest active volcano in Europe, a majestic presence that touches all of Sicily and all Sicilians, but for those who live on its slopes it’s a real and significant presence to live with day after day. They simply call it ’a Muntagna – dialect for “the Mountain” – and they do not let its shadow dim their lives. In fact, eruptions are considered an unmissable sight, so much so that at the first rumblings you can hear people call out: “The Mountain has burst, let’s head for the summit!”
Recently, the volcano has once again made its voice heard strongly and in the first six months of 2021 more than 50 eruptions have been recorded, eruptive columns have risen up to nine kilometers above the sea level, lapilli and ashes have covered entire villages around the volcano itself. In this cycle of activity Mount Etna erupted about 60 million cubic meters of magma, especially through particularly energetic lava fountains, as reported by the INGV researchers who constantly monitor volcanic activity.
A’ Muntagna is a long journey around Mount Etna and the surrounding area, telling the deep bond that unites the volcano to the women and men who live there, and the extraordinary normality of lives lived in the presence of such a giant, which at any time can generate seismic events. An ambiguous relationship, halfway between the most total devotion and the constant fear for it. They say that when an eruption ends, Etna is already preparing the next one. It’s the eternal confrontation between the volcano and the human beings who have decided to rely on his benevolence.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Emanuele Occhipinti is an Italian documentary photographer currently based in Brighton UK. Emanuele graduated from the Roman School of Photography and Cinema in 2012. He studied the International Program of Photojournalism at the DMJX, Danish School of Media and Journalism. In April 2022, Emanuele was selected among the 15 participants of the Nikon-Noor Masterclass in Budapest. Emanuele’s work has been published by IL Reportage, Der Spiegel, Burn Magazine among others and has been recognised in several awards. He mainly works on personal, long-term projects that are focused on social, environmental and anthropological issues.
