Francesco Bellina (Trapani, 1989) is a documentary photographer based in Palermo. His artistic work focuses mainly on contemporary socio-political issues with a particular focus on the topic of migration. He attended the Law faculty in Palermo and simultaneously dedicated himself to photography. His works have been published on major international media such as The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Globe and Mail, Paris Match, Le Monde, Internazionale, L’Espresso, The Washington Post, among others. He often works with NGOs and is a contributor to UNHCR, WHO, and others. In 2018 his work “Nigerian Connection” has been featured in the “Palermo Atlas” by the European nomadic biennial Manifesta12 and OMA. In the same year, his work “Tanakra” (2018), which depicts the human traffic between Niger and Libia, has been exhibited at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland and presented as a socio-political study in lectures at the University of San Diego, California, Spring Hill College, and others. In 2019 he has been invited for presentations at the World Press Photo exhibition in Bari, Torino, and Palermo (Italy) about “On a Gagné” (2019), a series of pictures taken on board of the ship “Mare Jonio” during a rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea. He has just completed the long-term project “Oriri” (2016-2020), which follows the interlace of sex trafficking and voodoo rituals in Benin, Niger, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sicily.
