Deep Land

Dates

2016 - Ongoing
Author

roselena ramistella
Topics Documentary, Travel
Location Sicily, Italy
Recognition

Vogue Italia Prize #1 - PhMuseum 2018 Women Photographers Grant

Sicily is an island in the island , the mountain ranges can hide storied of people, dense vegetation and Places hardly accessible with out the help of the mule

Sicily is an island in the island , the mountain ranges can hide storied of people, dense vegetation and places hardly accessible.

Deep Land is a personal journey that started on May 2016. I traveled on the back of a

mule the old Sicilian trails, starting at Nebrodi, passing through the Madonie,

Peloritani and all the way to the Sicani Mountains. The mule track is a rural road

similar to a trail, but also suitable for the circulation of pack animals. Prior to the

development of the modern road network itself, it represented the link and trade

route between the towns and the farmland. Until about fifty years ago, mules had a

prominent role in Sicilian country life providing employment and assistance to the

local farmers. Due to the economic crisis, many people are moving back to the

countryside, especially the young, who have chosen to react to this difficult historical

moment by working the land, planting local crops and breeding livestock, creating a

new rural economy The project is divided into two parts, research of local

communities still living in remote areas and the track of a new map, a document of

what remains of the old mule tracks, the last update comes back to the 50's.

Ongoing

© roselena ramistella - Boy on horseback

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Boy on horseback

© roselena ramistella - Image from the Deep Land photography project

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Moving around the countryside becomes increasingly difficult due the lack of maintenance of the muleteers to the advantage of the construction of state roads

© roselena ramistella - Image from the Deep Land photography project

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The mule Is a mixture of the horse’s and the donkey’s. The different structure and number usually prevents the chromosomes from pairing up properly and creating successful embryos, rendering most mules infertile. Much like donkeys, mules are strong animals and tend to have calmer personalities. They are very vigorous animals which is why mules may be often used as pack animals

© roselena ramistella - Image from the Deep Land photography project

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Luigi a young Sicilian. The economic crisis, high unemployment rate is re directing young Sicilians from small rural communities back to their lands and working in agriculture. Luigi helps his father cultivate small fields and take care of their farm animals. There isn’t a day in which he doesn’t dirty his hands to try to save some money to assist his young fiance’, a Romanian national that he met while working in the fields and can now pay for her trip back to Sicily and start a new life together

© roselena ramistella - Image from the Deep Land photography project

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The Madonie are one of the principal mountain ranges on the island of Sicily, located in southwestern Italy. Within the park area there are outcrops of rocks which have been dated over a 200-million-year period and represent all aspects of the geology of Sicily apart from present day volcanic activity. There is a wide range of fossils present within the mountains’ rocks

© roselena ramistella - Gray horse looking for food Many families live close contact with the animals that they circulate freely within the home

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Gray horse looking for food Many families live close contact with the animals that they circulate freely within the home

© roselena ramistella - Image from the Deep Land photography project

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Antonino is a young sicilian boy; He is 15 years. Everyday, after school, Nino starts from a little village setted trought Sicani mountains and Madonie to walk for 7 km to feed his animals. All this only for a better rising of his farms, his love

© roselena ramistella - Image from the Deep Land photography project

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Twin brothers with their Falabella. Falabella is a miniature horse is one of the smallest breeds of horse in the world. Tommaso and Salvatore are two young twins. Due to family problems, they we're raised by their uncle who led them since childhood to live a healthy country life style, cattle breeding and farming keeping them away from bad influences, providing them true values of life

© roselena ramistella - Image from the Deep Land photography project

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A young specimen of Charolais bull. The Charolaise breed is appreciated for its great rusticity, lends itself optimally to face periodic "critical" such as summer droughts, typical of Mediterranean climate areas

© roselena ramistella - Image from the Deep Land photography project

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A boy with her mule travels through an old mule track on the Nebrodi mountains. The mule track is a rural road similar to a trail, but also suitable for the circulation of pack animals. Prior to the development of the modern road network itself, it represented the link and trade route between the towns and the farmland

© roselena ramistella - Image from the Deep Land photography project

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Valledolmo In January 2017 there was an exceptional snowfall, the snow and the frosts have come down to low altitudes determining huge damage to crops, forcing producers to face a particularly difficult year

© roselena ramistella - Gray horses fighting during the mating season

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Gray horses fighting during the mating season