Signed; Mimmo Jodice - Chi é devoto, [Religious populars feasts] - 1974

Copy in excellent condition, exceptionally signed and dedicaced on the title page by Mimmo Jodice (1934 - 2025), unique and unattainable in a signed copy and practically unavailable in an unsigned copy. 232 pages and nearly 200 black and white photographs in very high print quality, with many full-page photos and some double-page spreads, foreword by Carlo Levi and text by Roberto De Simone in Italian and English, 33 RPM vinyl with sound documents collected at popular religious celebrations, inserted at the third cover. The book was printed on special papers, green for the texts and white for the photographs. Black cloth binding with a debossed title in white letters and illustrated dust jacket. In excellent condition.

These photographs convey the atmosphere of popular religious traditions from the 1970s in Naples and the surrounding region, and they are viewed with an anthropological gaze that is never detached. In his autobiography published in 2023 by Contrasto, Mimmo Jodice recounts that in the early 1970s he accompanied Roberto De Simone — director, composer and musicologist — on this vast ethno-anthropological and musical project for four years, because these religious celebrations occurred simultaneously in different places, such as on Good Friday, and it was necessary to alternate shooting from year to year to realize these photographs. He says that at the time they barely had enough money to fill up on gasoline and buy film or recording media, and they sometimes had to beg for funds to finance the project.

Some pilgrimages required long hikes to mountainous sites, and they sometimes had to depart at 5 in the morning, sharing the emotional tension and religious feeling that characterized these pilgrimages, which often ended with picnics outdoors. Some faithful arrived at the sanctuary exhausted, giving rise to scenes of hysteria and religious fanaticism. Mimmo Jodice found in them memories of Baroque-era pictorial representations, for example 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 achieved international recognition around the world. Self-taught photographer born in 1934 in Naples, he began his artistic activity in the mid-1960s with visual experimentation, pursuing cuts and collages of images, then in the 1970s moved toward social critique related to the miserable living conditions of Naples’ population — a vibrant and popular city — and in the 1980s toward a silent evocation of the metaphysical landscape and Mediterranean archaeology, with a creative language that reflects on time, light, and the act of seeing itself. Jodice presented his work in France on several occasions, notably as part of the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d'Arles and 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, considering its flawless manufacturing (stitched sections, sturdy binding). Very slight yellowing of the dust jacket (see photo), book kept with the utmost care. Very secure shipping with guaranteed international tracking.

2.4 kg excluding packaging