W. Eugene Smith's Pittsburgh Odyssey at Fondazione MAST Bologna

Fondazione MAST in Bologna presents a major exhibition of W. Eugene Smith (1918-1978), featuring 170 vintage prints from his monumental Pittsburgh project. Smith, described as a solitary seeker of hidden truth, spent three years in the 1950s photographing the steel city, producing 20,000 negatives. The project, originally commissioned by Stephan Lorant for 80-100 images, became an obsessive endeavor that ultimately yielded only a 36-page spread in Photography Annual 1959. The exhibition also contextualizes Smith's career: his early war photography in the Pacific and Japan, his seven-year tenure at Life magazine (marred by conflicts over printing and layout), and his uncompromising perfectionism. The prints, drawn from the Carnegie Museum of Art's collection, showcase Smith's signature high-contrast black-and-white style capturing Pittsburgh's industrial landscape, workers, and urban life. Curator Urs Stahel calls Smith both myth and martyr, noting his relentless fight for photojournalists' rights. Smith donated his archive to the Center of Creative Photography in Tucson and died in 1978, dissatisfied with his career. The exhibition runs at Fondazione MAST, which focuses on photography and labor.