Testimony

by Ugo Panella

"I have entered the paediatric oncology hospital with the sadness of a person who crosses the border of pain and with the anguish that accompanies the vision of the faces and bodies imprisoned by illness in a life with little certainties.

It is difficult to photograph pain because the border between truth and pity is always very subtle. Because the lens scans pitiless, encroaches and takes off modesty from peopleís desperation.

Those were difficult days as always when one sees pain closely and smells it ís odour. You donít forget it, it remains in your memory forever. Yet during those days I understood how important it was to give my testimony, without too much emphasis, just allowing time to flow through childrenís faces coloured by fear, sadness or sudden smile caused by an invented game. And then the confusion in the eyes of their parents, or the tenderness of a hug.

These pictures with their stories, these fragments of unfortunate existence will reach, I hope, sensitivity of those who are still able to ask questions to themselves and to try to find some concrete answers to them.

I dedicate this exhibition to all the people who accompanied me in this journey of soul".

Ugo Panella


UGO PANELLA - started working as a photojournalist documenting the conflicts in the Central America at the end of the 1970s; in particular the civil war in Nicaragua and later in Salvador and Guatemala. Passion for social photography brought him to different corners of the world where everyday life is often full of violence and little respect for human dignity. He made coverage for the Italian and foreign magazines in Albania, Palestine, Argentina, Bolivia, India, Sri Lanka, Philippine, Oman, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq.