Signed; Franco Fontana - Sicilian Notes - 2007

Exceptional copy exceptionally signed and dedicated on the frontispiece by Franco Fontana), unavailable online as a signed copy. The book was initially published out of commerce by ENI- SNAM Rete Gas, 192 pages and 155 full-page color photographs, or for a few, two-page spreads, with a solid editor's hardcover in blue cloth imitation with the title impressed in white characters, a illustrated dust jacket and a slipcase identical to the cover.

For nearly seventy years, Snam Rete Gas, a subsidiary of ENI, has designed, built, and operates the natural gas pipeline network that transports gas in Italy, crossing mountains and hills, traversing plains, or venturing into the sea to surface again and sweep across the Italian landscape. Snam Rete Gas wished to pay homage to this exceptional territory that shelters its network. This book is part of a collection of three distinct volumes, as Snam Rete Gas undertook this project on the Italian landscape by engaging three great Italian photographers. Ferdinando Scianna was commissioned to photograph the plains’ landscape (« Dolce Piano ») and Franco Fontana the landscapes of Sicily, where gas from Algeria and Libya arrives through the Mediterranean (« Sicilian Notes »), and Giorgia Fiorio the mountainous landscapes. It is possible to view a video where the three photographers Giorgia Fiorio, Ferdinando Scianna and Franco Fontana are interviewed about the making of their books: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ME_dZDvKLWE)

Franco Fontana states about this book: “A journey in Sicily is much more than a simple trip: it is an extraordinary and dreamlike narrative, filled with feelings and love… There are a thousand Siciles… There is the green Sicily of carobs, the white of the salt pans, the yellow of sulfur, the blonde of honey, the crimson of lava. Yet there is also the Sicily of sun, sea, mountains, volcanoes, and vast landscapes… And then there is the enchanting and fascinating Sicily of art monuments and ancient civilizations… For a man and photographer like me, in love with beauty, color, and mystery, Sicily is the planet where I lived and loved to tell its story with total creative freedom through my images, with joy of living, in the name of color.”

A book from my personal collection kept with the utmost care, in excellent condition inside as well as for the dust jacket and slipcase but with a small, barely visible impact mark at the bottom (see photo). Shipped securely with reinforced packaging and guaranteed international tracking. If there are multiple purchases, grouped shipping is possible with reimbursement of any excess postage paid via PayPal.

2.5 kg, excluding packaging