seezeenphoto

Kelly Rosa - Italy
Sēcrētus

Sēcrētus is a photographic exploration of Southern Italy’s hidden traditions that have quietly endured through time, specifically in Puglia and Basilicata.
These are not relics of a distant past, but living practices held by a few who still remember, women who heal with prayers, read signs in oil and water, and carry gestures older than memory. Their knowledge is rarely written, never openly taught, and often passed down only at the end of a life or in a moment of urgent need.

The practices documented here reflect a world where religion and folklore are not separate things, but flow tightly together. Sickness is not just physical but can arrive through fear, envy, or the unintentional gaze of another. Healing is both an act of faith and of skill. At the centre often stands a woman who inhabits a liminal space between healer and seer, sacred and feared. She does not claim power, but carries it as an inheritance and burden, quietly sought when no other help seems to work.

The work reflects on themes of magical force, malefic influence, enchantment, and possession, and how these are bound to daily life’s pressures. In moments of vulnerability, ritual provides a symbolic container for crisis, offering protection without the demand for explanation or responsibility.

While education, science, and medicine have reshaped our understanding of the world for the better, these older ways persist, fragile, marginal, yet enduring.
Through a research-based and relational approach, I met women across the South, building trust through time and shared experience.

The photographs document not only their practices but also the atmosphere of secrecy, intimacy, and tension between visibility and concealment. Sēcrētus does not attempt to explain or prove. It listens, records, and follows traces that are fading, but not yet gone.

@kellysnegative

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