In Cimitero, Pietro Motisi presents a stark visual intersection of the sacred and the secular, capturing a cemetery in Palermo framed against the backdrop of mid-century apartment blocks. The composition is meticulously balanced: rows of tombstones and mausoleums crowd the foreground, their sculpted angels and marble crosses bearing witness to loss, memory, and ritual. Above and behind them rise faceless concrete towers—symbols of modern urban density, anonymity, and routine life.
Shot with a large format camera, the image offers remarkable clarity and tonal softness, allowing every detail—from flower arrangements to balcony laundry—to resonate with quiet intensity. Motisi does not force contrast; instead, he allows these layers of history and architecture to coexist, questioning what permanence means in a rapidly evolving environment.
Cimitero is part of Motisi’s CEMENTO series, which explores the unresolved and often poetic relationship between lived experience, constructed space, and the traces we leave behind.