La Pescheria fish market

Down a few steps from Piazza del Duomo, behind the Amenano fountain, the ground opens into the fish market. Trestles run under a row of stone arches and out into the surrounding lanes: swordfish heads, crates of anchovies, ice, blood, water underfoot, and men calling prices over each other from seven in the morning until the fish runs out.

It is the strongest street photography in Catania and the least controllable. The arches give you a dark frame with a bright opening behind, the wet stone reflects, and the colours are absurd — silver, red, blue crates, yellow lemons. Nobody here is performing for a camera, which is exactly the point.

Work at the edges rather than in the middle: standing in the aisle blocks a working market, and you will be told so. Ask before making a stallholder the subject, and most will say yes and then ignore you, which is the best possible outcome.

The market runs Monday to Saturday morning and is finished by early afternoon. Wear shoes you do not mind ruining — the floor is wet fish market, not paving.