Sad news in Barga this week with the death of Liliana Continuati in Sacco who died after a long illness aged 75 years. She leaves behind her a son and husband Sacco.
Sacco is well know in Barga and on these pages. He has had his own site here for many years documenting the many faces of Sacco – the virtual scotsman on the official barganews t-shirts during the late 90’s, his participation in the Barga Gnome Sanctuary and his annual Befana outings to mention just a few of his memorable performances.
Liliana was the force behind Sacco, her passing will undoubtedly leave a large space to somehow be filled. The inhabitants of Barga Vecchia filled the church this afternoon for her funeral and maybe will help Sacco and his son in this difficult time. Goodbye Liliana, you will be missed.
Letter from the editor of barganews
This past week we have shown you a 65th wedding anniversary and an 11 year olds birthday party. Continuing with the idea of showing the every day side of life in Barga and not just the large ” set piece” ceremonial occasions, today we venture into a side of journalism that is maybe on the borderline of what is acceptable and what is not.
If there was not a photographer at a wedding, it could be said that something was missing from the occasion, can the same be true for a funeral ? A photographer at a funeral could be construed as an invasion of privacy.
It is very dangerous ground as this perceived invasion of privacy is putting documentary journalism in an almost impossible situation. Sure we will have safe guarded our privacy but we will have lost a reliable document of what life was like at the end of the 1900’s and start of the 2000’s for future generations.
Every time group photographs from the 50’s and 60’s are exhibited in Barga, they gather a large crowd around them who are interested in seeing just how much or little people have changed over the intervening years. They are records which show us how we were, who we were and more importantly, where we are now.
Paradoxically, or maybe even because of, the recent liberalisation of taking and preserving images through the digital media we are also entering a period of more and more private photo albums that nobody outside of a closed circle ever gets the chance to see.
The ongoing project now in its tenth year, called barganews, is an attempt to be a kind of digital photo album for the whole community.
It is not just a news operation but is more importantly, an archive of all things Barga.
I would appreciate your comments below on this proposition . Do you agree or not ?
Was it an intrusion for Goya to document the “Disasters of War?” Yes, of course, because we like to think of mortality (on any scale) as private and fragile — but his paintings are also graphic and powerful statements against the random of violence of war. That’s the inherent contradiction of every document, every journalist’s report, every photographer’s image. The alternative is a void, the absence of collective memory, the pretense that we can remain innocent. “Ask not for whom the bell tolls…”
Well, I just now wrote a long, thoughtful and brilliant response — then accidently deleted it.
Short answer: Yes, but ask the family’s permission and respect their wishes. Being there means underscores the idea that the community cares about the death, that the person was notable and that his or her passing matters. Be sensitive and unobtrusive, obviously. Give the family a nice print of one of the photos.
What is an intrusion is reading about and seeing, ad nauseum, the funeral of a certain vapid blonde, and not only an intrusion, it is an insult ot our intelligence. This, on the other hand, is inspiration and the substance of life and death.
Did the vapid blonde actually have a funeral? If so, it would have been interesting to see Goya’s take on that — “Disasters of Undertaking.” I thought they were still playing tug-of-war with the vapid remains.
I totally agree with dannyby comment. I really do wish somebody had taken some photographs at the funerals of several of my family members, of the floral tributes, and of the mourners many of whom came a long way and will not likely be seen again.
you know Sacco, you knew Liliana, you know Sacco’s son, you know his sister in law, you know me, you know why he is my uncle (if indeed he is): above all you know who Sacco is in reality and what he represents to all of us, the rest of the world and even himself …
go with your heart (as you always have) and render life as it is – for real!
this will be your testament and maybe also the testament of those such as Sacco, Liliana, etc … (and even, maybe, poor old me)!