Francesco Bellina
Francesco Bellina is a documentary photographer based in Palermo. His artistic work focuses mainly on contemporary socio-political issues with particular attention to the theme of migration. He attended the Law faculty in Palermo and simultaneously dedicated himself to photography.
Part of his work has been published on major international medias such as The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Globe and Mail, Paris Match, Le Monde, Internazionale, L’Espresso, Washington Post, among others. For over two years (2017-2018) Francesco has been working with Save the Children and the association Zen Insieme to give photography classes to children in the popular district Zen in Palermo.
Right now he’s working on the long term project “Oriri”, that follows the interlace of sex trafficking and voodoo rituals in Benin, Niger, Ghana, Nigeria and Sicily. His work Tanakra, that depicts the city of Agadez in Niger, has been exhibited at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. In 2019 he held a lecture at the World Press Photo exhibition in Bari, Torino and Palermo (Italy) about one of his latest project On a Gagné, a series of photos taken on board of the ship Mare Jonio during a rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea.
In 2016 and 2017 he was nominated for the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass.