People 1st place winner

This picture is taken during the Holy Week in Canose of Puglia (at south of Italy), before easter. It portrays a small part of the religious ritual of the procession of the “Madonna della Desolata” during the morning of the Holy Saturday. There is a chorus composed by 380 womens between 20 and 60 years old, not professional singers, but shared by the same faith, strictly black dressed with the face completely hidden by a curtain, composed by vibrant and unique voices wich accompany the statue of the “Madonna della Desolata”, for the death of Christ during the Holy Friday, depicted on the rock of the Sepulcher with the scripture "Sepulcrum domini", through the impeccable guide of Master Mimmo Masotina, who for 50 years has directed with passion and dedication the Choir of the Desolate, leaving his son his same role since latest edition, that give rhythm to an evocative hymn composed by penetrating sounds wich give rise to strong emotions, From the poetic text of Jacopone da Todi (1233-1306), repeated more and more time during the path wich crosses the most antique area of the town, a strong need to cry wich quenches only with pain contemplation.

Vincenzo Fratepietro was born in 1982, in Puglia, a region in the South of Italy. He loves to play and experiment continuously, and has curiosity for social photography. ln 2016 he represented Italy as an Italian ambassador of FIOF, during the International festival of photography “Photovisia”, wich took place in Krasnodar (Russia). In 2017 he ranked third at the international photographic contest “FIIPA” in the “street category” for the amateur section. In november 2017, trough the International Department of FIOF, he is on show with other italian ambassadors at the Lishiu International Photography Festival, one of the most important Asian photo event. In 2018 he received two honorable mentions at the international photographic contest “FIIPA” in the “conceptual" category for the amateur section. In the Sony World Photography Awards has been selected as "commended" among 320000 participating images from over 200 countries in the world in the "open" section "culture". In the 35 Awards has been selected as "top 40 Italy photographer" among 103 thousand people from 160countries, a total of 257 thousand photos have been submitted.