Sicily, 2002-2003
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In 2002 I started visiting Sicily and the Aeolian Isles on a regular basis. I had the idea that this part of Italy is a rather unexplored, forgotten and archaic region. I have been overwhelmed by the beauty of the countryside - mostly used for farming and living to the very last millimeter below the top of the hills. All over Sicily one finds deserted and damaged buildings, often the result of extreme poverty and susceptibility to earthquakes. It breathes an ancient but very alive feeling.
The Aeolian Isles are all volcanic; especially Stromboli, home of one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The black earth, the black stone and the pure water of the ocean have impressed me deeply. One notices the volcano in one's back, one smells its fumes, one hears its movements during the night, one unmistakably senses that our planet is a living entity and should be respected as such. That's something I already became aware of when photographing the quarries - however, back in the Netherlands one knows it, a function of the brain, but on Stromboli this awareness comes through the senses rather than through the brain.