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Antonio Faccilongo lives in Rome and is a freelance documentary photographer. His series Single Women, a conceptual documentary of Palestinian women left on their own in their homes, after their menfolk have either been arrested, imprisoned or killed in their struggle for an independent homeland, won the First Prize in the 2011 KLPA Story category. We asked Antonio the following questions to understand how he puts together his projects and realises them.
Photos © Antonio Faccilongo
KLPA : Hi Antonio, I see that your Single Women series have also won some other prizes, can you tell us which other awards you have also received?
AF : I won 1st Prize in the Feature Category at PX3 2011, 1st Prize at WPGA Portraits & People, 1st Prize at WOW World of Women, 2nd Prize in Political Category at IPA, Special Mention at HPA Humanity Photo Award, Special Mention at Rotary Photo Contest and the work has been exhibited in many countries such as Italy, France, England, China, USA and Malaysia and will be displayed in Argentina in February 2012. I am very grateful to KL International Photoawards 2011 also, as this was the first prize to be awarded to this work.
KLPA : How long did you take to photograph the whole series?
AF : I was in Palestine about two months, between December 2010 and January 2011.
Photo © Antonio Faccilongo
KLPA : Did you encounter any difficulties, technically or with your subjects? Was it difficult to make the arrangements to visit the women's homes etc?
AF : It was a beautiful and deep experience meet people into their houses and listened to their stories. The Palestinian people are very friendly and hospitable, but at first I struggled to get in touch with the women. The issue was very delicate. I asked them to invite me into their homes, but they are women. I asked them to put me up at their homes whilst their men are absent. There was great difficulty in arranging that. Things changed with the help of my fixer, an association of assistance to families of Palestinian detainees and a law society that takes care of enforcing the rights of prisoners.
So, thanks to them I managed to get myself to be accepted, but the real turning point came when a report of my project was published in a Bethlehem journal. The article that told of my presence in Palestine and my project on prisoners and their wives. Almost a tribute to my professionalism and the goodness of my intention. From that point on, I have always been (introduced) with the newspaper in hand, and I've had no problems.
I worked hard to get in touch with families and to find the right way to go, but luck was on my side.
KLPA : How do you decide whether a story is worth it shooting, how much research do you do beforehand?
AF : In the case of Palestine I worked for about two months before my departure and two months later for editing and retouching. I do not think there are strict rules to decide which story to follow, I think the most important thing is to tell it in an original way. Or find it's own personal style or a different style for each story.
Photo © Antonio Faccilongo
KLPA : You came to Malaysia to receive your Awards in May 2011. How did you find Kuala Lumpur and the country?
AF : Malaysia is a fantastic country from every point of view. The nature is varied and beautiful, the Malaysian culture is fascinating and the people are very hospitable, kind and open-minded.
KLPA : You also returned to Malaysia later in the year. Were you researching for a new project? Have you completed the photography?
AF : After the trip to Malaysia to attend the award ceremony of the Kuala Lumpur Photoawards, I was so fascinated by Malaysia that I started looking for stories to come back. So last summer I came back for two months and I have followed many stories to show the great social and cultural emancipation present in Malaysia. The projects are work in progress.
KLPA : Lastly, there are so many photographers that we encounter who say they do not know what to photograph, or what stories they could do. Can you give us some advice about how you identify your stories?
AF : This is one of the hardest aspect of this work. There are many strong reports that do not even have to be searched for, such as the war in Libya, but in these circumstances you encounter a large number of photographers and many of the contemporary big names. So the risk of not seeing your pictures published is very high.
I seek information on the news of humanitarian organizations. I read the reports on international issues in newspapers and I navigate to independent blogs that sometimes give important information that traditional newspaper circuits ignore.
Grazie, Antonio!
To view Antonio's full series go here
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