Pietro Donzelli's 'Terra senz'ombra' on View at Palazzo Roverella

Palazzo Roverella in Rovigo presents a retrospective of Pietro Donzelli's photographic series 'Terra senz'ombra', capturing the Po Delta between 1953 and 1961. Donzelli, born in Montecarlo in 1915 and died in Milan in 1998, began the project after World War II, during which he served in the area and witnessed the Wehrmacht's retreat. The series documents the laborious civilization of the Po Valley, blending neorealist cinematic style with long shots reminiscent of Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange. Donzelli paired many images with dialect poems by Gino Piva. Despite his role in establishing photography as art in Italy, the series did not achieve the same recognition as Robert Frank's 'The Americans'. Donzelli's reserved nature and the rise of younger photographers like Berengo Gardin, Guidi, and Jodice in the 1960s contributed to his relative obscurity. The exhibition also highlights his documentation of floods in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as everyday life in rural communities.