N 154 Palermo, Catacomben del cappuccini, dettaglio c. 1893 - 1903

Giuseppe Incorpora made this photograph, a detail of the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, using a camera and darkroom techniques that were state-of-the-art at the time. The sepia tones and sharp focus give the image a documentary feel, yet it's more than just a record. The careful composition invites us to contemplate mortality and the passage of time. The bodies, arranged with a certain care, speak to the social rituals surrounding death in 19th-century Sicily. Photography itself was a relatively new technology then, transforming how people saw the world and remembered the dead. Unlike painting or sculpture, photography offered a seemingly objective representation of reality, democratizing portraiture and commemoration. Incorpora's work blurs the lines between art, documentation, and social commentary. It reminds us that even the most seemingly straightforward images are shaped by the materials, processes, and cultural contexts in which they are made.