The first two figures in Alys Tomlinson’s photo book Gli Isolani (The Islanders) (GOST Books, 2023) offer us something between a greeting and a warning. Covered in shaggy animal skins and wearing enigmatic wooden masks, the figures seem ancient and insular. Their confrontational stances and curved staffs suggest that the rocky landscape around them is the site of some kind of secret rite. Who are these figures, and why are they dressed this way?

Over the course of two years, Tomlinson traveled between Sardinia, Sicily, and the islands of the Venetian lagoon to photograph people who wear traditional garments and masks in community festivals. Her portraits feature figures dressed in animal horns and furs — like these Merdules from carnival celebrations in Ottana, Sardinia — as well as women shrouded in black veils and posed in intricate gowns.