Paolo Di Paolo's 1950s Italy at MAXXI: 250 Rediscovered Photographs

The MAXXI museum in Rome presents 250 photographs by Paolo Di Paolo (born 1925 in Larino), many previously unseen, capturing Italy in the 1950s and 1960s. The exhibition, curated by Giovanna Calvenzi, is divided into three sections: Society/Rome, Society/World, and Artists/Intellectuals/Cinema. Di Paolo's archive was rediscovered about twenty years ago by his daughter Silvia in the family cellar, where it had been stored since 1966 when the photographer felt out of sync with the times. The rediscovery was spurred by interest from Alessandro Michele, Gucci's creative director, as well as MAXXI president Giovanna Melandri and director Bartolomeo Pietromarchi. Di Paolo collaborated with the magazine Il Mondo (directed by Mario Pannunzio) for 14 years, publishing 573 photo reportages from Italy and abroad. His subjects range from everyday Italians to celebrities like Pier Paolo Pasolini, Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Magnani, Tennessee Williams, and Kim Novak. Notable images include Pasolini at Monte dei Cocci and at Gramsci's tomb, and Magnani at the beach with her son, photographed for the first time. The exhibition runs at MAXXI in Rome.