Henri Cartier Bresson in Pisticci
Henri Cartier Bresson, the famous French father of photo-journalism spent time in Pisticci Italy, the hometown of my grandparents. How I had missed his Lucania photos from 1961 until now, is beyond me. My first visit to PIsticci was a pilgrimage south from Florence while in university there in the mid 1970’s. To arrive alone in a lost-in-time pure town that you yourself would be living in had your grandparents not left in the 1920’s for Canada and America, can transform you. My own pictures from that first visit are still treasures for me, images of a few moments over three days with people that didn’t know me, but somehow knew me better than anyone. The area is called Lucania in deep southern Italy. It’s now become known as the region of Matera, an amazing UNESCO city that now attracts luxury stays and James Bond movies, but holds forever the character of a region that learned to survive with little and to love deeply.
