Ballarò, Eyes Down

Sixteen minutes at the Ballarò market in Palermo, on 24 April 2023, with a single focal length. In every photograph the goods fill the foreground and nobody is looking at them: hands work, eyes are elsewhere or on the ground.

Elderly man in a cable-knit wool cardigan in front of crates of bananas at the Ballarò market, Palermo.

Eyes Down

Ballarò, Palermo

A heap of garlic bulbs in the foreground, two vendors behind the stall and a building facade with balconies and hanging laundry.

Garlic and Balconies

Ballarò, Palermo

Man in glasses and a grey sweatshirt leaning on a post, between a marble counter and cuts of meat hanging behind a dark tarpaulin.

The Post

Ballarò, Palermo

Butcher seen from behind in a white apron, working under sides of meat hanging from a metal frame.

Under the Carcasses

Ballarò, Palermo

Man in a dark hooded sweatshirt leaning on the edge of a market counter, laughing and looking off-frame.

The Laugh

Ballarò, Palermo

Two men talking in the middle of a market street, one seen from behind with a loaded trolley in front of him.

Two Voices

Ballarò, Palermo

Two men walking towards the camera along a corridor of stalls covered with goods.

Nine Twenty-Two

Ballarò, Palermo

The Arch

Ballarò, Palermo