The photographer Francesco Ruta presents “Grano” Modica

Modica – Ninety supporters have allowed, with 2,660 euros, the publication of “Grano – Extraordinary normality”, a photographic book by Francesco Ruta which tells the story of everyday life and the changes in life in the countryside. It will be presented on Sunday 16 July, at 8pm, at the Salesian Oratory of Modica Alta. The author will be interviewed by Rocco Rossitto. Ruta’s work began after the 2020 lockdown. For about four years he followed the life of Paolo Curcio, an 83-year-old farmer from Palazzolo Acreide, in the Syracuse area, crossing industrial revolutions, climate upheavals and human passions. “After the restrictions of the Covid period I needed to breathe and go back to photography – recalls Ruta – So, through the son I knew, I went to Mr. Curcio with the aim of telling the story of the wheat harvest. But as soon as I passed the gate I understood that through him and his family we could tell a world that was increasingly distant from us.” Grano, which can be purchased during the presentation thanks to the Zazie bookshop, is not just a photographic book: through QR codes present between the pages of the volume you can listen to Curcio’s voice, to immerse yourself even more in the story. “It makes us perceive with melancholy the awareness that working in the countryside is less and less liked and economically worthwhile – says Ruta – But it also gives us back the optimism that his grandchildren can take over from him. In the history of a family, there is a collective history.”