Chasing the mafia: the wild, Vespa-riding life of Letizia Battaglia – in pictures

Mafia boss Luciano Liggio in court, Palermo, 1978

Born in Palermo, Sicily, Battaglia began her photographic career in the early 1970s, when she was in her 40s. ‘I was saved by photography,’ she once said. ‘I was a young, intelligent, desperate woman. My encounter with photography allowed me to express my thoughts, my rebellion, my social and political commitment’