Photograph
2023
In 2023, my family and I travelled around Sicily, exploring different parts of the island and seeing places I had never experienced before. Out of everything we visited, the Cretto di Gibellina was probably my favorite.
The Cretto was created by Italian artist Alberto Burri after the original town of Gibellina was destroyed by an earthquake in 1968. Burri built the enormous concrete structure over the remains of the old town, with the pathways and cracks following the layout of the streets that once existed there.
I found a spot on the surrounding hillside and took this photograph. After heavily editing the image, the landscape began to look almost post-apocalyptic. In some ways, it already felt that way in person. The enormous stretches of concrete and the almost complete absence of colour made it feel less like a traditional landscape and more like the remains of something that had been completely wiped out.
When I look at this photograph, I feel a strange sense of sadness. The landscape reminds me of a desert made entirely from stone, almost as if some enormous explosion had turned the earth into glass. There is something beautiful about the scale and design of the Cretto, but knowing what it represents makes that beauty feel heavier.
Credits
Aidan Weaver
