On the 9th October 2003 Anna Vollaro doused herself in petrol and set fire to herself in a last desperate attempt to prevent the police seizing property belonging to the 'camorra' clan of her uncle, Luigi Vollaro, controller of western Naples. On the same day Renato Iacomino was murdered by two assasins as he strolled throught the city centre. The following day two more murders were carried out by the camorra in nearby Ercolano. Life is cheap for the 'camorra' gangs that control the criminal underworld in Naples. Not as cheap as in the early 1980s when there was one murder for every day of the year. Now the killings have settled down to 100 a year and it's no longer a news story. The city has tried to clean up its act in order to bring in the tourist trade but the 'camorra' still control the streets.

BIO
Francesco Cito, one of the world biggest names and most important Italian photoreporters.
He was born in Naples and now lives in Milan, where he works as a freelance photographer. In 1980, after the Soviet invasion, he was one of the first photographers to secretly reach Afghanistan, travelling 1200 km on foot with various groups of guerillas. At various stages from 1983 to 1989 he was on the Lebanese front as a correspondent from the Epoca newspaper.

He has been awarded twice the prestigious International World Press Photo Prize for Neapolitan Weddings (1996) and The Siena Palio (1996), the Werner Bischof Prize (2005) and the Bari PhotoCamera Award (2007). He is internationally known for his war reportages in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine, his work on camorra in Naples and more recently for his work on Sardinia and Apulien.

For three years he worked as a wedding photographer in his native city, Naples, documenting the contrast between the sumptuous Neapolitan weddings and the urban and social degradation of the surroundings. Cito joined those processions, partook in those banquets and witnessed those dress fittings with his black-and-white eye. In his conference Cito discusses his approach to wedding photography which is so unusual yet at the same time usual.

AWARDS
2007 - Italian Master of Photography (FIAF)
2006 - Bariphotocamera
2005 - Werner Bishof
2005 - La fibula d'oro
2004 - Città di Trieste
1997 - Città di Atri
1996 - World Press Photo
1995 - World Press Photo

BOOKS
2006 - Francesco Cito, Collana Grandi Autori (FIAF)
2005 - Immagini come parole (Meridiana)
2003 - L'isola al di là del mare (Fondazione Banco di Sardegna)