Acquaintance

Acquaintance tells the story of the 40 days of Search and Rescue by the ship Humanity 1 in the Mediterranean Sea.

On October 3, 2022, from the port of Palermo, the journey of photographer Max Cavallari begins alongside the crew and volunteers of the mission. Between October 22 and 24, three rescues at sea take place, recovering 180 people from three different boats. It took 21 requests for a safe port before a place for disembarkation was granted, but not everyone was allowed to leave: 45 people were deemed "in good health" and thus trapped in a "limbo" on the deck of the ship, moored at the port of Catania.

A cyclical story that has been occurring in the Mediterranean Sea for at least 10 years.

The result of the 40 days of navigation is an analysis of how the social bubble of human beings has the ability to adapt depending on physical spaces and the people they interact with—a photographic reportage that tells the story of a border, of human beings crossing it, and the relationships between them.

The Search and Rescue mission that took place between October and November 2022, as told by Max Cavallari, is an analysis of human relationships and their capacity to adapt. While the narrative framework recounts an event similar to what cyclically occurs in the Mediterranean, the focus is on the people directly experiencing this: confined in a space, all surrounded by a dark, infinite, and unpredictable sea.

Cavallari’s project was published in L’Espresso, garnering praise from international critics. The author, a documentary photographer who collaborates with Getty Images and ANSA, won the Igers Italia competition in the Photojournalist Category with Acquaintance.