On the cover photo
On the cover photo
Alessia Rollo
December 19, 2025
“Pietro in the photo is a member of a group on Ischia that practices traditional rituals. I got in touch with them through a friend who knew the group’s president. I arrived the day before and then joined them at their meeting, where they practised the ndrezzata. In this ritual, the participants pretend to fight each other with wooden sticks. The movements create figures and rhythms following the events of a legendary story. The performance then increasingly becomes a dance. The sound of the wooden sticks accompanies the movements. It’s a simulation of a fight rather than an actual fight.
I was surprised that so many young people like Pietro are active in the group. They’re not totally backward-looking or stuck in the past – on the contrary. Pietro was a teenager at the time and still in school. Today he’s studying medicine.
I felt very connected to the community. The atmosphere that evening had something magical about it.”
I was surprised that so many young people like Pietro are active in the group. They’re not totally backward-looking or stuck in the past – on the contrary. Pietro was a teenager at the time and still in school. Today he’s studying medicine.
I felt very connected to the community. The atmosphere that evening had something magical about it.”
Text and image: © Alessia Rollo
EQUIPMENT: Leica SL2-S, Vario-Elmarit-SL 24–90 f/2.8–4 Asph
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Alessia Rollo+-
The photographer and visual artist was born in 1982 in Lecce, Southern Italy, where she still lives and works. After receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Communication from the University of Perugia, she gained a Master’s in Creative Photography from the EFTI – Centro de Imagen in Madrid. More