In Sardegna, nel cuore del Barigadu, il Carnevale non è una celebrazione, ma un rito di possessione e rinascita. Questo reportage fotografico e video esplora il Carrasegare di Ula Tirso, uno dei momenti più autentici e arcaici dell’intera isola, dove il mito si fonde con la terra e l’acqua.
Al centro della narrazione visiva c’è la figura di S’Urzu, la maschera zoomorfa che rappresenta la divinità vittima, e i suoi spietati domatori, Sos Sos Tintinnatos. Attraverso il mio obiettivo, ho documentato la lotta eterna tra l’uomo e la natura ferina, in un susseguirsi di suoni di campanacci e gesti rituali che rompono il silenzio del borgo.
The Personification of the River: One of the most singular aspects I wanted to capture is the visceral bond with the fiume TirsoIn the masks and movements of the performers one can read the respect and fear for the river that skirts the town, a natural element that becomes the very protagonist of the photographic story.
Details and Symbolism: The photography lingers on the wooden masks blackened by burnt cork, on the sheepskins and on the use of the “tintinnu” (the cowbell). Every shot is a study of texture and the strength of a tradition that needs no filters to appear powerful and dramatic.
Aerial Perspectives and Video Storytelling: L’uso del drone made it possible to set the rite within the rugged landscape surrounding Ula Tirso, offering an overview of the procession winding through the stone streets of the historic center. The video completes the work, conveying the hypnotic rhythm of the steps and the metallic clatter that accompanies the dance of S’Urzu.
Documenting the Carrasegare of Ula Tirso means preserving a fragment of intangible heritage. As a documentary photographer, my commitment has been to translate the primordial energy of this event into images, offering a testimony that is both artistic and documentary, able to speak to the world about the cultural depth of the truest Sardinia.
