Mauro D’Agati met Marzia on a beach near Palermo in 2007 and began taking pictures of her and her family during their summer vacation. The unexpected ease of interaction between photographer and subject encouraged D’Agati to undertake a series depicting Marzia’s transition from childhood into adolescence, with the ambition of spending several days with her family every year.

The resulting five volumes of this publication show the family over a period of about five years: their summer vacations on an illegal camping lot in the industrial area of Termini Imerese, the celebration of Marzia’s and her brother Claudio’s First Communion, family reunions with abundant food and games, and the curiosities and family portraits at nonna’s house in Palermo’s deprived Zen 2 district. Throughout this close photographic chronicle Marzia represents the epitome of the anti-model, defying prefabricated aesthetic standards while candidly emanating joy and self-confidence.

Mauro D’Agati, born in 1968 in Palermo, began working as a professional photographer in 1995, initially documenting Sicilian jazz festivals, art and theater events, before working for Italian and international magazines. Steidl has published D’Agati’s Palermo Unsung (2009), Alamar (2010), Napule Shot (2010) and Sit Lux et Lux Fuit (2012).