Sea and Sicilia

Taormina was in the days of DH Lawrence already a top destination for both the well-to-do and the more bohemian set. What has become of it now after a century of tangible modernization?

In 1921 the English writer DH Lawrence lived in Sicily and from there he made an excursion to Sardinia. His account of the trip, Sea and Sardinia, is one of my favourite travel books. In the opening chapter Lawrence describes in a magistral way how he leaves at dawn his cottage in the hills above Taormina, heads for the station and takes a slow train to Messina where he waits for connection with the express.

This photo essay is instigated by that chapter. Taormina was in those days already a top destination for both the well-to-do and the more bohemian set. What has become of it now after a century of tangible modernization?

The photos from this essay are made during the first leg of my Italian journey in the wake of DH Lawrence.

(work in progress)