Shobha Battaglia
Mother India School
Palermo, Italy
Shobha, daughter of photographer Letizia Battaglia, started photo reporting in 1980 for the newspaper “L’Ora” in Palermo, reporting the events of the hard years of the “Mafia war”. 1998 she is awarded with the World Press Photo for a work on Sicilian aristocracy, The last Gattopardi.In 2001 she wins the Hansel-Mieth Preis for the work on Church and the Mafia. 2002 she receives again the WPP in the category Arts and Entertainment for a reportage on fashion in Senegal. In 2004 she wins Giacomelli Award in memory of Osvaldo Buzzi. In 2010 she receives CIVITAS Award, for the brave civil and social commitment, a symbol of friendship between Italy and India. In 2007 she founded Mother India School, a travelling school of photography, between Italy and Asia, she organizes individual and group workshop, volunteering projects. www.motherindiaschool.com
2012 Ragusa Photo Festival - Video shows: When the acid disfigures the soul, a project against the violence on women, victims of vitriol. 2013 Award Montessori - Culture of legality, to Letizia Battaglia and Shobha. 2013 Corigliano Calabro Photography, exhibition and video installation: Breathing Dust - goddess of dust, a work on the construction female workers in India. 2014 Nepal Project: Kumari - young living goddess. 2015 Expo Milan Italia Inside Out. Italian Photographers, curated by Giovanna Calvenzi. 2015 Triennale of Milan - time of women. Workshop of photography and meditation. She has been living between Italy and India for many years, where she likes narrating, through photography and video, stories, poems of the invisible India. Her photos always portray social and international issues, with special focus on the female world.
