Paolo Pellegrin's Anthology of Human Tragedy at Venice's Stanze della Fotografia

The Stanze della Fotografia on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice presents 'L’orizzonte degli eventi', a major retrospective of Roman photographer Paolo Pellegrin (born 1964). Curated by Denis Curti and Annalisa D’Angelo, the exhibition gathers over 300 photographs spanning nearly thirty years of his career. A member of Magnum Photos since 2001 and recipient of ten World Press Photo Awards, Pellegrin documents global tragedies—from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and racial discrimination in America to Antarctic glacier melt and the HIV epidemic in Cambodia. His work transcends geography to reveal human responsibility behind apparent calamities. The dynamic installation on the lower floor, while perhaps too dispersed, underscores the universality of tragedy across climatic, war, and social forms. Pellegrin's documentary eye appears invisible to his subjects, capturing everyday humanity in moments of suffering that he calls 'a sacred space'.