In photography, the theme “women” is certainly one of the most interesting realities in the history of the image itself. In no other field, among all the expressive arts, is the feminine presence tangible both from the point of view of the operator and the subject represented. The woman in front of the lens, source of creative inspiration, and the woman behind the lens, creator of photographic works, constitute an extremely important and indispensable constant on the international scene. For the variety and immensity of the subject, we have opted for a specific theme among the many possible: the nude, for the beauty of the image that we have offered the many photographers and photographers since the birth of photography. Obviously, the domain is vast and to be exhaustive, the famous infinite library of Jorge Luis Borges would not have been enough as exhibition space. So we made choices by making the most of the authors who researched in nude, gave them time and space in their production and not those who, sometimes by pure fantasy or sometimes, crossed the path . From the second half of the nineteenth century, at the dawn of photography (a magical period for this theme), to arrive in Vienna and Prague in the 1920s, Paris from the surrealist period to Latin America from the early 1900s to the present day, not forgetting Japan with its very important culture.
Photographs that, in our intention, should represent the naked woman and not a naked woman, paying attention to the fine thread that separates this type of images from those “glamorous” or “erotic”. Names such as Marina Abramovic, Vanessa Beecroft, Bill Brandt, Lucien Clergue, Edward Sheriff Curtis, Andreas Feininger, André Kertész, David LaChapelle, Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton, Joyce Tenneson, Edward Weston and Francesca Woodman tell us not only the evolution of the image related to the feminine world but especially their way of interpreting it.
Mario Trevisan
Exhibition organized by Mario Trevisan
Museum of Santa Giulia,
from May 2nd to September 8th
http://bresciaphotofestival.it/
