PHOTOGRAPHER FRANCESCO FREDDO CAPTURES THE BEAUTY AND AUTHENTICITY OF SOUTHERN ITALY

January 25, 2024

Francesco Freddo thinks for a moment and then smiles. “With my photography, I feel better, and it’s a game between me and people. Without people and their stories, my photography wouldn’t exist.”

Born in Matera in Basilicata, in the South of Italy, Francesco reminisces fondly about his childhood. Throughout our time together he recalls children happily playing on the streets, the smell of focaccia from the local bakery blowing beautifully through the morning air, clothes being hung from balconies and his grandparents telling him stories of days gone by. “Spending a childhood in the South is one of the most beautiful things that can happen to you if you are an Italian child.”

Time as it always seems to do passed in the blink of an eye and the days which felt like they would last forever soon became memories to hold onto.

Life would take Francesco to university in Turin, in a period that was mixed with sadness and It wasn’t until he moved to Naples that he was able to find a sense of happiness again. “I found my childhood again. Here, they welcomed me.”

It would become an important chapter in his life, where in a land rich in history, culture, and traditions he would discover his love for photography. It is also a place of contradictions, where beauty and misery intertwine in a fascinating mosaic and it would inspire him to capture it all.

“Dissecting this South is a way to talk about this land authentically and engagingly. This photography is simple, naked and raw. I’m not afraid to show reality, even when it’s hard or difficult. My images are an invitation to the viewer to look beyond the surface and see the South in its simple complexity.”

There is heart and soul in every image that Francesco takes, as he takes you deep into Southern Italy, where his work gives a face to those hard and tireless workers who live, but we don’t often see and appreciate. Francesco tells a story through his photography and we are delighted to share that with you.

The uniqueness of Naples lies precisely in this, making people happy and making them feel at home.

I think spending a childhood in the South is one of the most beautiful things that can happen to you if you are an Italian child.

It was a wonderful childhood. Living in a small place, where trams, trains and big things don’t exist, makes you grow better, more slowly.

I was born among the bakers who give you focaccia in the morning and the streets populated by children playing, the ladies on the balconies hanging out the clothes and those romantic stories told by grandparents.

Time passed quickly, I grew up, and after a sad period spent in Turin for university, I moved to Naples. In this place, I found my childhood again. Here, they welcomed me, I was adopted by an entire people who immediately made themselves discovered with their eternal beauty

The uniqueness of Naples lies precisely in this: making people happy and making them feel at home. Experiencing these places, listening to stories and completely immersing myself in this Neapolitan culture I started to think that it would be healing for me to start photographing all these things.

i decided to be a storyteller to show everyone the good and the bad of these territories,

Similar to when we write our thoughts in a diary, I decided through my photography to tell the story of the people I meet, the places I see and all my days spent on the street.

I choose to capture and reveal, most of the time, the inner torments, the silences, those mysterious details that are hidden in the reality of a naked and raw face, I like to talk about life, sadness, marginalisation, workers, the last ones, those people who are invisible to our eyes but in reality are there and have many stories to tell.

All this pushed me to always go further, to push myself deeper and deeper, to know more and more about myself and others and how this society moves, I decided to be a storyteller to show everyone the good and the bad of these territories, of this South that is now on everyone’s lips but in reality no one knows it.

there was a unique fervour in the air, winning the scudetto, tourism and everything else, it seemed like we were in a fairy world.

I started taking photographs out of necessity, it was a turbulent period for my sensitivity, I needed to be able to communicate something and I decided to buy a camera, also I had recently discovered that my grandfather had a passion for photography. Fate. So I created my world, the place where I could vent all my most varied imaginations.

I started taking photos, throwing myself into the streets where I always accepted every situation from the most beautiful to the ugliest, from the most dangerous to the calmest, always with the feeling of being protected by my camera. Photography first of all made me feel much more confident.

I was also very lucky, I arrived in Naples in a fiery period, there was a unique fervour in the air, winning the scudetto, tourism and everything else, it seemed like we were in a fairy world. Thanks to all this, I started to experiment a lot, to learn about the importance of light, contrast, colours, and how to talk to people, in short, I gradually shaped my photographic style. Although I don’t think I have a very specific style, in fact, I’m not interested in having one. I think instead I have very anarchic ideals about art, maybe I’m wrong, but it’s my idea.