Once upon a time in Taormina on the island of Sicily by Silva Wischeropp

This photographic image shows the morbid charm of an abandoned house with typical Sicilian balcony railings, rotten, peeling paint, washed-out wooden doors on the island of Sicily on the east coast.
This mysterious house facade stands not far from the tourist town of Taormina. The subject was photographed with the Nikon on 26 April 2012 in the early evening during my photo trip to the east coast of Sicily.
The typical, iron balcony shapes are a classic feature for the region of Sicily. The crumbling house façade as well as the peeling paint on the walls give the motif an irresistible charm. Colourful, individual wooden doors in dark shades of green and brown give the image a very special vintage character. These charming urban facades tell a piece of Sicilian history and culture. Behind every wooden window and every gateway lies the secret of this Mediterranean island in the south of Italy. Sicily enchants the visitor with its architectural peculiarities and different building styles, which give the island a unique fascination.

The small town of Taormina, high up on the mountain, which Goethe already discovered on his Italian travels at the end of the 18th century, attracted numerous artists and celebrities at the end of the 19th century, including Oscar Wild, Thomas Mann and Richard Strauss. Even Empress Sissi of Austria stopped by, and the Taormina-Giardini railway station was even extended in her honour.
The foundations for becoming a fashionable coastal resort were thus laid: And more celebrities came in the following decades, including Greta Garbo, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor and many more.

Created by Silva Wischeropp.

This artwork is offered by Silva Wischeropp

Silva Wischeropp was born in the Hanseatic city of Wismar in the former GDR. Today she lives and works in Berlin. As an experienced and passionate travel photographer whose interests span a broad range, she focuses on portraiture, street life, reportage, documentary, travel, tourism, landscape and nature. In addition, she is known for her recordings in the fields of architecture and fashion. Since 2016, her new repertoire includes surreal digital photo collages. For 20 years she has been known in Germany and abroad as a creative photo artist. Her works have been widely published and exhibited. "The photographic image process represents my personal work and creation area. This means dealing with image worlds, politics, human needs and sensitivities. The camera expands my scope to meet that other reality. Photography makes me happy, creates joy, closes boundaries, opens new doors, widens horizons. The camera teaches me to see, to sharpen the view, to capture moments, to perceive fleeting moments that are not visible to others. I am a creative person, a picture-maker, who draws on herself, does not copy a lot and develops her own imagery. So I move between the poles, reach different fixed points, look behind the scenes. Out of the thousandfold existing I manage to bring out something unique, unique moments of the picture."

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