SUCA FORTE

This research project is a photographic collection of written insults, found in the streets of Palermo (my hometown) and around Italy.

SUCA is a typical insult in southern Italy (it means “suck it”). Especially in Palermo, SUCA is everywhere: it is widely used in verbal language and is also written on every wall in sight, aimed at passers-by. Its constant use in popular culture over a long time makes it interesting from an anthropological point of view: “If I ask a local to write something without thinking too much, no matter how, he can have a piece of chalk or an electronic brain, he will have no doubt, because the first thing that comes to his mind is only SUCA.” (Fulvio Abbate, Zero Maggio a Palermo)

The selection, which currently includes over 1,000 photos, shows the spread of SUCA well beyond the traditional limits of the walls, highlighting the creativity of the anonymous writers. In addition to my photos, the collection is enriched by contributions from friends and strangers. You can see all SUCA on Instagram.

Most photos I’ve taken are geo-tagged, so the next natural step of the project, was to build an interactive map, using these info and Google Maps API. The resulting map can be explored at sucaforte.com