All photos courtesy of Sicily Photo Masterclass.
Hosted by Mimi Mollica in the scenic Belíce Valley, a group of photographers gather each year to celebrate life and make work inspired by a landscape decimated by a devastating earthquake half a century ago
Every year since 2018, in late spring, a small group of photographers has travelled to a stone farmhouse in the hills of western Sicily. There, they spend a week dining together, swimming in the pool, sharing aperitivos, and exploring the surrounding countryside, which is rich with citrus fruits, olives, figs, prickly pears, plums and persimmons. They take photographs, develop projects, play with sequences, tackle questions in their work, and support each other with constructive critique. “It’s a very safe environment, but very stimulating,” says the photographer Mimi Mollica. “You feel held in a cocoon, where you are encouraged, not criticised.” Photographers who come here commit to the ethos of peer-to-peer support and exchange, and often become lifelong friends. “And there’s another element,” reflects Mollica, “which is my sheer pleasure for partying. The more we are together, the more we can share, the more we can ask of each other, the better life will be.”
The stone house is Casa Mollica, a family home for generations. It is the setting for the annual Sicily Photo Masterclass, a hugely popular residential workshop which this year sees its 10th iteration. After the success of his Photo Meet initiative in his home city of London – which involves portfolio reviews, talks and networking events – Mollica was keen to develop an opportunity for photographers to engage deeply with each other’s practice over a more sustained duration, while also developing new work in an intriguing context. Special guest tutors join the group for two days at the beginning of the week, to share professional advice and creative guidance. “Each photographer arrives with their own project, and benefits from both individual reviews with myself and the guest tutors, and group presentations and crits. But I think what makes Sicily Photo Masterclass special is the brief I set, and the collaborative project that photographers contribute to.”
In the early hours of 14 January 1968, an earthquake ripped through western Sicily’s Belíce Valley. The already impoverished rural region was devastated, with many older properties unable to withstand the tremors, and the hilly and uneven terrain impeding rescue operations. Hundreds were killed, and over 100,000 left homeless. Inefficiency, bureaucracy, corruption and lack of preparedness at state level meant that recovery stalled, grants came way too late, and entire villages were abandoned. The economic impact of the earthquake remains tangible to this day. At Sicily Photo Masterclass, it has also inspired a conceptual apparatus for The Valley, a collective, cumulative project spanning almost a decade, incorporating the work of dozens of photographers.
“The Valley project is divided into three iterations,” explains Mollica, “each based on a phase of an earthquake and its aftermath: fracture, gravity and threshold. For the first five years of Sicily Photo Masterclass we collectively explored the concept of the fracture, the first thing that the earthquake provokes.” Mollica provides prompts and short activities, encouraging participants to interpret the theme in its most expanded sense, using their practice to explore social dynamics, scarred landscapes, architecture and ruins. After a fracture, things collapse. For the last two years, participants have considered gravity, and its implications on the surrounding terrain. “Gravity is a very interesting theme because with gravity, you have different interpretations of the word,” says Mollica. “One is the gravity of things collapsing, or being attracted to the centre of the Earth. There’s also a sense of gravity or seriousness of a situation. Thirdly, there’s the idea that one can attempt to defeat or defy gravity, and aim towards a higher ground.” Eventually, the masterclass will turn to the idea of the threshold, approaching the earthquake as a pivot point in history, and the Belíce Valley as a site of transformation and cultural exchange.
The Valley project has been a significant factor in the success and sustainability of Sicily Photo Masterclass. Each year builds on the last, but promises something new. Rather than simply replicating a tried-and-tested formula, Mollica and his invited guests respond intuitively to the dynamic visual practices of their participants, and the shifting character of the landscape and its communities. The photographic outcomes are collectively edited and exhibited on the Sicily Photo Masterclass website, with a printed volume potentially in the works.
June 2026 sees the Masterclass joined by the writer, editor and researcher Simon Bainbridge, who was formerly editorial director of British Journal of Photography and head of content at Magnum Photos; alongside Vivienne Gamble, director of Stills Centre for Photography in Edinburgh and co-founder/director of Peckham 24. “Simon has enormous experience as an editor, writer and educator,” says Mollica. “Vivienne truly understands the realm of galleries, display and curatorial practices. So this will put the photographers who are open-minded enough to tackle the themes that we are proposing with The Valley project in a very good position.”
Sicily Photo Masterclass reflects Mollica’s belief that it is networks that best sustain artistic practice. Community-building, mutual support and, indeed, partying emerge as a methodology not just for the Masterclass but in his own practice and artistic life. Alongside paid places, an Alumni Scholarship Fund supports two young photographers from under-represented backgrounds to take part. “When I first moved to London in the 1990s, I struggled to find a community. I didn’t feel like there was much of a supportive network. So now when people say, ‘Oh, Mimi knows everyone,’ it’s not by accident. I had to build a network from scratch, on my own. Now, I want to support young photographers to grow their own networks, and make the connections that can really make a difference.”