Mom and grandma in Alessandro Petriello’s project, “Two Women”

Alessandro Petriello, 28 years old

Italian-Swiss photographer. Born in Zurich, raised in Italy. After finishing school, he went to Switzerland where he studied visual art at an art and design school in Lucerne. Afterwards, he returned to Rome and trained as a documentary photographer at a film and photography school.

Website Facebook Instagram

This is a story of everyday life that takes place within the walls of a home. A story of pain, hardship, sacrifice and love. My grandma had been bedridden for years because of illness, and all these years my mother was always beside her out of sincere love. This photo shoot chronicles the last few months of my grandmother’s life up until her last night on Earth. The most important moments are captured in the photos.

Because of the fact that these women spent each day together with the same routine, they began to look and act like one another. When the pain caused my grandma to lose sleep at night, my mother stayed awake with her. The day after, exhausted due to a sleepless night, my mother went to her room to relax for a bit, but then immediately returned to grandma’s side.

I called this project “Two Women” because I don’t want it to just be about my mother and grandmother. On the contrary, I want this series to become the portrait of many people around the world who live like this every day, living through similar moments and gaining the same experience in life as the women in my photographs.