Palermo, a wonderful city located in the northwest of Sicily which seems to never be asleep. It has various monuments, many cultural and natural attractions which reflect the city’s rich and diverse history and that attracts thousands of tourists. From 27th of March to 4th of April a youth exchange project “Youthography” was held in this city. The exchange brought together young people from Italy, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania interested in topics such as photography, art, non-formal education and fight against social unrest. The activities that we participated in were held outside, which helped us explore Palermo and its most beautiful places.
During our stay in Palermo, we took pictures of objects located in the city, portraits of people that we met in the streets of Palermo, etc. We are going to focus on 4 categories: food, people, street art, places in Palermo. Our aim in this article is to reflect on how photography helped us to get a closer look to these 4 topics.

Food. On the 4th day of the youth exchange we were divided into several groups for a city game. We had to go to the city with the given clues and take pictures of different subjects, one of which was food. Not only did that help us to find out traditional Italian food but also enthused us to try it out. Therefore, we tested cannoli, arancine, sfincione, briocha con gelato. In addition to that, we visited the city market which we found to be very noisy, full of life. The food there tasted different than food from a supermarket. Everything was in the same place – fruit, fish, vegetables, also we found a large selection of seafood.

People. Palermo is a mix of cultures and races, people are very different and unique. With such activities as taking portraits of people and looking for objects in the city, we had to communicate with them. And, even though all those people come from different places and cultures, we found that we are all not that different and have something in common. People here seem to be very passionate, kind, open-minded and also crazy drivers whom we had to be careful with.

Street art. Street art is everywhere. It can be found on buildings, garage doors, fences or anywhere else. It makes the city more colorful, more lively. What is more, it is another source of tourist attraction. Street art turned the streets that were degrading into an open sky museum. During our activities, we walked a lot around the city and noticed a bunch of different street art. However, not only was it paintings that brightened the city life but also musicians, artists, actors, etc. In the pictures we have included such painting as Astro Naut painted by Collettivo FX.

Places. During the activities we passed through many touristic places such as ballaro, which is the traditional street market, Politeama Garibaldi theater, Massimo theater, cathedral, Spianata Della sacra Grotta and also places to relax such as the park or Mondello. Palermo also has many bars to visit in the night for a drink with friends which are not only visited during the weekend, but also during the whole week.

To conclude, Palermo is a city full of life, a mix of different people, tasty and interesting food and breathtaking landscapes.

*Articolo realizzato dai partecipanti di Youthography e facente parte del final work del progetto