L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 4 G r e e n , y e l l o w , b r o w n — t h e s e colors embrace you as you stroll t h r o u g h t h e countryside of Puglia. The eye is drawn to vivid hues under a brilliant sun: if you look closely, you can see the f u r r o w e d b r o w s o f t h o s e kissed by hard labor as if it were the sun, their rough hands tilling the soil. The rus- t l e o f w h e a t f i l l s e m e r a l d fields in spring, which turn into gold by summer. The land is strong and rich, crum- bling between your fingers. The sky swathes stretches of olive and almond trees, dot- ted with dry stone walls, in a deep blue. J o e V i t o n e r e f l e c t s , "When I'm here, appreciating beauty comes easy; it doesn't need a deep connection to a local family or culture. Beauty meets you on the street, it's present everywhere." Yet, in the Apulian countryside, this beauty has an ancient charm, it evokes something ances- tral, a deep connection to the earth. The Latins used the term numen to describe a divine presence sensed but unseen, its power and intensity felt rather than configured. This is the word the Italian-Ameri- c a n p h o t o g r a p h e r u s e s t o describe the region, which is bordered by the sea for 940 k m . L o n g a n d n a r r o w , Puglia's heart beats with an a g r i c u l t u r a l r h y t h m a s ancient as the region's farm- ing history. Vitone's exhibition in Bari, i n f u s e d w i t h t h e s e w a r m , earthy colors and landscapes blending past and present, f e l t l i k e r e t u r n i n g h o m e . V i t o n e r e s i d e s i n A u s t i n , Texas, where he teaches Pho- tocommunications in Photog- raphy & Media Arts at St. Edward's University, but his roots are in Southern Italy. Puglia Numinosa. The Heart of the Countryside is the photographic narrative of a journey that started 7 years ago, to reestablish his connection to the land and rural life his paternal grand- parents left when they emi- g r a t e d t o A m e r i c a i n t h e early twentieth century. B o r n i n A k r o n , O h i o , w h e r e h i s g r a n d f a t h e r Pasquale found work, Vitone speaks Italian throughout the interview. He meticulously conjugates verbs, monitors h i s p r o n u n c i a t i o n , a n d selects the best words to cap- ture the beauty he found in P u g l i a . E v e n t h o u g h h i s thoughts might naturally run faster in English, he deliber- ately slows down to allow adjectives to resurface and s e n t e n c e s t o f u l l y f o r m , reflecting his deep ties to his paternal origins. This contin- ual search for the right Ital- ian words is a way for him to w e a v e b a c k t o g e t h e r t h e threads of his familial con- nections. For the exhibit, Vitone portrayed Puglia through 53 images that illuminate the rural character of a region now predominantly known for tourism, commerce, and industry, but with a deeply agricultural inland. Histori- c a l l y , l i f e h e r e r e v o l v e d around grueling agricultural w o r k , c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y intense labor, sweat, and modest earnings. Today, the region is still dotted with e x t e n s i v e o l i v e g r o v e s , a l m o n d o r c h a r d s , c i t r u s groves, vast fields of toma- toes, and sweeping wheat fields—so much so that geog- raphy books often describe it as Italy's granary. A land- scape of remarkable beauty, where large cultivated areas are frequently punctuated by characteristic dry stone walls that talk of an omnipresent s u n f i l l i n g t h e s k y w i t h intense light throughout the year, and providing warmth w e l l b e y o n d t h e s u m m e r months. As a documentary photog- rapher, Joe Vitone's work features large-format por- t r a i t s a n d l a n d s c a p e s , panoramic scenes, and close- up views that explore foreign c u l t u r e s , r u r a l l i f e , a n d small-scale family farming. H i s w o r k s a r e h o u s e d i n n u m e r o u s c o l l e c t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g t h e C l e v e l a n d Museum of Art, the Center for Creative Photography in Arizona, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Muse- um of Fine Arts in Budapest, and the Smithsonian Institu- tion National Museum of American History in Wash- ington. In addition to his e x h i b i t i o n s a n d l e c t u r e s across the United States, Vitone has taught photogra- phy in countries such as Aus- tralia, China, France, Ger- many, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Viet- nam. His background is far removed from that of his grandparents from Puglia, but perhaps it is this very dis- tance that provides the per- fect focus for seeing things with more clarity. Y o u r g r a n d f a t h e r , Pasquale, was born just a f e w k i l o m e t e r s f r o m Bari, where you exhibit- ed your photographs. My grandfather Pasquale was born in Capurso, Puglia, and came to America in 1913. He settled things a bit, then returned home to fetch his wife Maria Michela Dicintio and the first three children, Uncle Frank and Aunts Rose and Anna, to settle in Akron, Ohio. There, he worked in one of the many tire facto- r i e s . A t E l l i s I s l a n d , h e declared that he came not from Italy but from Southern Italy, which to me signifies that he was poor. Growing up, I heard that in Ohio he was considered a dago, but Italians have done so much to build the nation that wel- comed them, and today I feel there might be more Italians in America than in Italy. What kind of Italian- American are you? My father Salvatore stayed in America with his siblings, growing up in a typical Ital- ian-American, large, Catholic family. Dad served in World War II in the Pacific, and upon returning, married my mother, who was of German descent but born in the US. My name is Joseph, but my father called me Giuseppe, a f t e r m y u n c l e , w h o d i e d young in a car accident. I have been blessed with the opportunity, which my father n e v e r h a d , t o s t u d y a n d attend university. I hold dual citizenship, and I'm pleased about it. My father had dou- ble citizenship, too, because my grandparents were Ital- ian when he was born. My grandmother never learned The soul of Puglia: Joe Vitone captures the region's timeless spirit BARBARA MINAFRA NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS CONTINUED TO PAGE 6 Piazza Gae Aulenti, Milano Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024. Where Experience Evolves (Credit: Publicis Groupe)

• Cover