Antonio Gibotta Spain

Each 28th december, in Ibi - province of Alicante, in Spain -, the "The floured's war" takes place. It's a festival in which the citizens are divided into two groups: the first is called the Enfarinat (the floured), that simulate a coup d'etat; the other one tries to calm down the rebellion. The teams plays with flour, water, eggs and coloured smoke bombs: the photos taken during the match are beautiful. It has been celebrated since 200 years and it's linked to the day of the massacre of innocents, when Herod, king of Judea, ordered to kill each baby in order to find Jesus.

Naples-based photographer Antonio Gibotta’s work depicts culture through lensing what he calls society’s ‘outcasts’, creating empathy rather than the usual contempt. His work is often confronting at first glance, but his photos often actually depict traditions — such as “Els Enfarinats” which takes place every year in Ibi, Spain. We featured this project, which essentially covers one of the world’s biggest food fights, as part of our collaboration with World Press Photo. He has received an array of awards for his work, including FIOF, Pictures of the Year International and World Press Photo. In 2014, one of his photographs was included by National Geographic in the book “Stunning Photographs” and in 2016, his story was one of the 21 multimedia stories presented at the 5th LUMIX Festival for Young Photojournalism in Germany.