FEDERICO GAROLLA.
Gente d’Italia. Fotografie 1949-1968

The Exhibition

Curated by Isabella Garolla e Uliano Lucas

The exhibition, produced in collaboration with Suazes, brings together around a hundred black-and-white photographs taken in Italy by Garolla in the twenty years following the end of the Second World War. Through his gaze, the story takes shape of a country that, after the devastation of the conflict, gradually recovered confidence and momentum, laying the foundations of what would later be called the “Italian Miracle”. It is a journey in which the determination of a people emerges to rebuild not only cities and infrastructure, but above all its own identity and future. Garolla captures a nation poised between tradition and modernity, documenting our country’s fresh start both in its everyday dimension – as seen in the shots portraying the life of ordinary people – and by turning his attention to the world of culture and entertainment. From his work springs a reflection on society, on humanity, and on the changes and contradictions of his time.

A journalist and photojournalist, from the 1940s Garolla produced hundreds of reportages for prestigious Italian and foreign publications. His lens gives us landscapes and the faces of ordinary people, but also famous figures: painters such as Renato Guttuso and Massimo Campigli, writers such as Elsa Morante and Giuseppe Ungaretti, but also fashion designers, musicians, and film and theatre actors and actresses, always with a discreet eye and always attentive to social themes as well.