About

My name is Carmelo Stompo, and I am a Sicilian documentary photographer with over thirty years of experience, living and working in Catania. I use photography as a tool to tell authentic and profound stories, addressing social, environmental, and cultural themes.

Documentary photography is at the core of my work. I love exploring landscapes, people, and communities through listening, observation, and sensitivity. My goal is to capture what often remains hidden, tackling complex themes with strength and delicacy. Every image I create is a unique story, a fresco that reflects intimate and universal truths, inviting viewers to find a piece of themselves.

Among my latest projects: Never Stop, Under Your Feet, and PASQUA_sia. Never Stop tells the journey of Arouna, a young Senegalese man, through the desert, imprisonment in Libya, and integration in Sicily — exhibited in several Sicilian cities, including Catania, Palermo, Leonforte, Agrigento, and Vittoria. In 2022, Under Your Feet was selected for the Narnimmaginaria Festival in Narni and featured in the "Climate Change" exhibition curated by Dysturb. I am currently working on PASQUA_sia, a project focused on the memory of the Pasquasia mine. Both projects will soon be published as books.

My works have been showcased in prestigious exhibitions, including Sicily in Celebration at the Italian-American Museum of San Francisco (2002), and published in books like Never Stop (2018) and Is...Land (2022). I have also collaborated with international magazines and platforms such as National Geographic, PH Museum, Perimetro, Urbanautica, Discorsi Fotografici, Gente di Fotografia, Il Fotografo, and Suq Unconventional Sicily.

Alongside my documentary work, I collaborate with companies and brands to create visual content that tells their story and communicates their values — from advertising campaigns to product still life and corporate portraits.

I am the co-founder, together with my son Mattia, of 2LAB Contemporary Culture, a cultural hub established in 2014 in Catania and dedicated to photography, supporting emerging photographers through exhibitions, workshops, labs and talks.

Exhibitions

1998 — MediArt, Pergusa (EN) — Le cose di Marcella
1999 — MediArt, Castello di Lombardia — La Terra del Pane
2000 — Galleria Civica Enna — Terrarìa
2002 — Galleria Civica Enna — Sicily in Celebration
2002 — Italian-American Museum of San Francisco — Sicily in Celebration
2014 — 2LAB Catania — Croci Santi Demoni Giganti
2015 — Palazzo Romano, Noto — Si maritau Rosa
2016 — 2LAB Catania — L'odore del Caos
2017 — Circolo Tennis Umberto, Catania — Croci Santi Demoni Giganti
2017 — Arkè, Catania — PASQUA_sia
2018 — Ragusa FotoFestival, "Spazio Fotocopia", Magazzini Fotografici Napoli — Never Stop
2019 — 2LAB Gallery, Catania — Never Stop
2019 — Spazio Alessi, Caltanissetta — Never Stop
2022 — Narnimmaginaria Festival, Narni — Under Your Feet
2022 — Marenostrum Festival, Photography of the Mediterranean, Palermo — Never Stop
2023 — Leonfortecrea, Leonforte (EN) — Never Stop

Books

2018 — Never Stop

Publications

2019 — Suq Unconventional Sicily N°4, Francesco Cusumano Editore
2019 — Le Montagne Incantate, National Geographic / C.A.I., GEDI Gruppo Editoriale
2019 — PH Museum
2020 — 71A London (Instagram), TCO London
2020 — We are | Noi siamo, Église
2021 — PH Museum
2021 — Perimetro, Milano
2021 — Discorsi Fotografici
2022 — Gente di Fotografia N°77
2022 — Suq Unconventional Sicily N°6, Vento Edizioni
2022 — Il Fotografo