Enfarinat

People, second prize stories

December 28, 2016

Each year on 28 December, residents of Ibi in Spain stage a mock military coup, pelting each other with flour and eggs and letting off firecrackers. A group of men, ‘Els Enfarinats’ (The Floured Ones) take control of the town, pronouncing ridiculous laws and fining citizens who infringe them. Another group, ‘La Oposicio’ (The Opposition) tries to restore order. At the end of the day, the fines are donated to charity.

Reputedly 200 years old, the festival was revived in 1981 after long lying dormant.

Commissioned by: Agenzia Controluce

Photo Credit: Antonio Gibotta

For Antonio Gibotta, photography is a way to show what’s inside without the use of the words.

It's a means of expression. He loves traveling and searching for stories. Foreign cultures make him curious. He often looks, and takes pictures, of the poor and outcast in order to sensitize people who often look at them with contempt. He wants to spread the sense of solidarity. Some of the reality he's seen, like in South America, Africa, India, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Europe, has changed his mind and values. He says he's become much more grateful for his life and its gifts.

In recent years, he has exhibited in New York, France, China, Brussels, and Italy. He has also won many awards, including FIOF, Pictures of the Year International and World Press Photo. In October 2014, the National Geographic put a photograph of his in the book Stunning Photographs and two years later, in 2016, his story was one of the 21 multimedia stories presented at the 5th LUMIX Festival for Young Photojournalism in Germany.

He currently lives in Naples.