Will I ever go back to that place?
Donkey is a photographic album about an ordinary and nostalgic summer in Sicily.
I stayed in Petralia for ten days with a Sicilian family, living with a local named Rose. I followed his daily routine and experienced life in the small town through his rhythm. With no plans, I moved through the place as an outsider, observing and recording a way of life very different from my own.
All photographs were taken with my phone. Looking back at them, I reflect on being an outsider experiencing a new culture, and on how photography becomes a way to engage with that position. I brought my own view to the land of Sicily, Like a donkey, modest and stubborn.
ATOYOT
An old car
The space
Living room, Hall, Kitchen
Portraits
Cadife - My favorite donkey, in English his name means Velvet
Cuddle
A sick mother with her child
Jungle
The language of a donkey
The donkey here, Cadife, was always really happy when he saw people come closer to the fence. He ran, shouted, and would bite my arm just to have some fun with me. He certainly has his personality and his language to speak to people.
I was in Sicily, which is a land far away from my own. They have different languages in terms of speaking and interacting. We were Chinese, Italian, and Argentinian; everyone was struggling with English, Spanish, and Italian (especially me). Sometimes we communicated like the donkey. We used the language from our instinct; for sure, there were a lot of misunderstandings and it took a lot of time to understand each other, but it was very funny. Somehow I captured the communication between us through photography.
Then it became a language for me, which at that time spoke to me. Even though I can’t remember every detail that happened to me, I am remembering a certain feeling in the interaction between people, nature, and culture. And the moments I captured are the feelings I tend to keep. Be bold and open, using my instinct as the language to communicate, and also be open to a world which is new to me.