Ferdinando Scianna started taking photographs in the 1960s while studying literature, philosophy and art history at the University of Palermo. It was then that he began to systematically photograph the Sicilian people and their festivities. Using dramatic light and dark shadows, Scianna's style contains elements familiar to the Italian neo-realist film movement. Scianna joined Magnum Photos in 1982 and became a full Member in 1989.