SALVATORE DI GREGORIO
Sicily not Alaska
A letter written by Salvatore Giuliano, a Sicilian bandit who is said to have helped the American Soldiers to enter Sicily to free the continent from the Fascist regime, addressed to the then President Truman. It declares the wish to make Sicily the 49th state of the United States of America; a legend that every Sicilian knows and jokes about. 2023 will mark the 80th anniversary of the US Army landing in Sicily.
After the war, the American lifestyle was the sole dream that citizens were yearning for. What would have happened if Salvatore Giuliano’s wish had become a reality? How different would modern-day Sicily be? How have they allocated the US aestheticism and extravaganza within the Sicilian lifestyle? Fact is Alaska became the 49th state of the United States of America in 1959.
After the war Di Gregorio’s grandfather took him- 10 years old – to an unforgettable coast-to-coast trip to the United States.
As a Sicilian who has lived the American dream during childhood this project represents an introspective analysis on how the island has adapted to this dream and It draws a line between the local subculture and the American lifestyle.
BIO
Salvatore Di Gregorio (Caltagirone, 1979) is an award-winning photographer, based between London and Sicily.
His work draws on themes relating to cultural diversity and social fabrics. The imprinting is cosmopolitan, the attitude is nomadic.
In 2014 he won the Sony World Photography Awards. In 2016 he was invited by the Cuban Cultural Minister to create a project about Cuban culture exhibited at the Fototeca de Cuba in Havana. His latest project Taliami e te fazzu Petra has been selected at Red Hook Lab New Artist III and his first fashion campaign he photographed and art directed won The Bronze Cube at the Art Director Club in New York.
In 2019 he has been invited in an exhibition at C|O Berlin and TEDx Catania invited him to talk about the use of photography as a platform for cultural exchange.
He has shot for Vogue America, Vogue Italia, W Magazine and Gucci and he has been published by The Guardian, National Geographic, CNN, Rolling Stone Italia, Purple, Beauty Paper, Groove, Vanity Fair Italia, The British Journal of Photography, The Independent Magazine, Creative Review etc.