Signed; Mimmo Jodice - Chi é devoto, Feste popolari in Campania - 1974

Copy in excellent condition, exceptionally signed and inscribed on the title page by Mimmo Jodice (1934 - 2025), unique and unavailable in a signed copy and virtually unavailable in an unsigned copy. 232 pages and nearly 200 black-and-white photographs in very high print quality, with many full-page photographs and some double-page spreads, preface by Carlo Levi and text by Roberto De Simone in Italian and in English, a 33 RPM vinyl disc with sound documents gathered from popular religious celebrations inserted on the inside of the rear cover. The book was printed on special papers, green for the text and white for the photographs. Black cloth binding with the title embossed in white lettering and an illustrated dust jacket.

These photographs capture the atmosphere of the popular religious traditions of the 1970s in Naples and the surrounding region, and they bear an anthropological gaze on them that is nevertheless never detached. In his autobiography published in 2023 by the Contrasto publisher, Mimmo Jodice tells us that in the early 1970s he accompanied Roberto De Simone - director, composer, and musicologist - in this vast ethno-anthropological and musical project for four years, because these religious celebrations took place simultaneously in various locations, such as Good Friday, and it was necessary to alternate shooting from one year to the next to produce these photographs. He recalls that at the time they barely had enough money to fill up on gas and to buy photographic film or recording media, and that they sometimes had to beg to fund this project.

Some pilgrimages required long walks on mountainous terrain, and they sometimes had to depart at five in the morning, sharing the emotional tension and the religious feeling that characterized these pilgrimages, which often ended with outdoor picnics. Some faithful arrived at the sanctuary in a state of exhaustion, giving rise to scenes of hysteria and religious fanaticism. Mimmo Jodice found in them memories of Baroque-era pictorial representations, such as faces distorted by a cry of pain or lights that reminded him of Caravaggio's works.

Mimmo Jodice is one of the greatest Italian photographers of the 20th century and has gained international recognition almost worldwide. A self-taught photographer born in 1934 in Naples, he began his artistic activity in the mid-1960s with visual experimentation and carried out research into cuts and collage of images, then in the 1970s evolved toward social denunciation linked to the miserable living conditions of the population of the city of Naples, vibrant and popular, and in the 1980s toward an evocative silence of the metaphysical landscape and Mediterranean archaeology, with a creative language that reflects on time, light and the very act of seeing. Mimmo Jodice has presented his work in France on several occasions, notably within the framework of the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d'Arles as well as during a retrospective at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris in 2010, which led to the publication of an important catalogue.

Book from my personal collection, in excellent condition 50 years after its publication, given its perfect quality of manufacture (stitched signatures, sturdy binding). Very slight yellowing of the dust jacket (see photo), the book has been kept with the greatest care. Shipping is securely packaged and international tracking is guaranteed.

2.4 kg excluding packaging