People from Delta
A series of neo-realist photographs portraying people from Northern Italy in the 1950s
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
Polesine is a plain area, lacking in shadows and speckled with rivulets and rushes, where people let their lives follow the flow of the river Po.
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
The etymology of “Polesine” comes from the medieval latin “policinum” that means swampy.
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
Nino Migliori took the photographs of this series People from Delta in 1958 and in that period who lived in that land had to struggle constantly against sea storms, high tide, wind, mud that invaded the villages.
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
Looking at this photos today it seems to make a travel through time and we have the possibility to watch a way of living which wasn’t so different from the one passed by farmers and fishmongers some centuries before.
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
“Earth and water deeply marked their way of living and dealing with life.
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
In this village, Boccasette, streets were made of earth and even the main road became mud after a rainfall or a rising tide and lot of houses were still straw huts.
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
Children put on adults’ worn-out clothes.
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
White wooden horses and few toy cars for males and two or three dolls for females stood out in the shop window of the store of wonders and desires.
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
White wooden horses and few toy cars for males and two or three dolls for females stood out in the shop window of the store of wonders and desires.
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
But for them happiness meant the tasty Sunday candy: chestnut flour in a foil. They weren’t disappointed, on the contrary they appreciate it and were satisfied.
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
On holy days men and youngsters passed their time in the pub, some of them played cards and all the others were sitting behind or standing round the table participating only with the glaze."
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
People from Delta by Nino MiglioriFondazione Nino Migliori
People from Delta, 1958
Location: Boccasette
Publication: Nino Migliori. Gente del Delta, Humboldt Books, Milano, 2020.
Texts: V. Brondi, M. Zanchi, C. Benigni.
