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Francesca Todde’s poetic and mystical photo project was inspired by the novels, poems, short stories, letters, and personal notes of the Sicilian-born writer Goliarda Sapienza. IUZZA evokes the writer’s childhood nickname. The series is the story of an imaginary encounter, exploring the hidden, fragmented connections between her body of work and her biography.

Goliarda Sapienza (1924–1996) is one of the most unusual, free-spirited, and elusive figures in twentieth century Italian literature. Born in Catania into a progressive, anti-fascist, and politically engaged family, the ideals of independence and freedom shaped her thinking from childhood. She began her career as an actress, but writing eventually became her primary form of self-expression, though she remained unrecognized during her lifetime, her writings remained unpublished. Her works explore themes of female autonomy, desire, and identity, incorporating her own life experiences into her writing with remarkable honesty. Her major work, L’arte della gioia (The Art of Joy) – a “coming of age” book exploring self-determination and defiance of social conventions – achieved worldwide success two decades after her death and is now one of the cult classics of European literature.

For Francesca Todde, the figure of this long-overlooked writer is not merely a source of literary inspiration, but also a metaphor for loss and memory. Supplementing a few remaining archival photographs, the Italian photographer evokes the writer’s universe in new images, taken at the locations of Sapienza’s life. Her work is not a documentary reconstruction, but a personal, telepathic connection. By transforming words into images, Todde tells the story of an inner journey through the landscapes of Sicily – across the volcanic rocks of Mount Etna, Baroque palaces, and mythological figures – which condenses into the story of a nighttime sea crossing. In the photographs, layers of reality and memory merge, while the boundaries of the body, the landscape, and time blur. Her lens searches for faded traces, ancient human, animal, and mineral imprints. IUZZA is a tribute to Goliarda Sapienza, a visual poem about her invisible presence. The highly acclaimed photobook based on the project was published in 2024.

Francesca Todde (b. 1981) is a Milan-based photographer, designer, and publisher who works in Italy and France. In the practice of her long-term, personal projects, photography, book design, and publishing form a unified creative process. Her research focuses on the invisible dimensions of relationships, as well as various forms of empathy and coexistence. Together with artist Luca Reffo, she founded the independent publisher Départ Pour L’Image, which produces experimental publications that explore the intersection of photography and contemporary art.

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