Angela Madesani - Curator

If there is one field in which women have succeeded in working and taking on a role of prominence, it is precisely that of fashion. "Vogue" magazine, in its main and most significant edition ("Vogue America"), has had only female editors-in-chief: seven from its founding in 1892 to the present day. Josephine Redding (1892-1901), Marie Harrison (1901-1914), Edna Woolman Chase (1914-1951), Jessica Daves (1952-1962), Diana Vreeland (1963-1971), Grace Mirabella (1971-1988), up to the current Anna Wintour, who has been at the helm for over thirty years. The presence of women was also decisive at "Harper's Bazaar"—founded in 1867 and a competitor to "Vogue" over the years—where Carmel Snow, Liz Tilberis, and Deborah Turbeville served as directors and editors.

Starting from the 1930s, photography assumed a decisive role in the fashion industry. In this sense, women, though present, have not managed to hold the same position as men.

Is there a reason why? Our journey begins here.

"Sguardi di Intesa" (Exchanges of Gazes) offers an interpretation of the images of twenty-four female fashion photographers and artists. An introductory social section analyzes, starting from an image by Tina Modotti, the labor behind fashion, very often performed by women: weavers, seamstresses, and factory workers. These are primarily images from the 1960s and 70s in which photographers explored the world of female labor with an intent of research and social protest. These images were created to be published mostly in politically engaged magazines, such as those by Liliana Barchiesi, Gabriella Mercadini, Livia Sismondi, Elsa Robiola, and Lori Sammartino.

The journey continues with the pioneers of fashion photography: Louise Dahl-Wolfe, author of many "Harper's Bazaar" covers, Lee Miller, and Lillian Bassman, whose significant work spanned the entire 20th century. Then follow the photographers who have worked in fashion from the 1960s to today: Alice Springs, Elisabetta Catalano, and Maria Vittoria Backhaus. Among the fashion photographers closer to our time are: Ellen von Unwerth, Brigitte Niedermair (who has created photographic campaigns for Dior), Julia Hetta, Maripol, Ilaria Orsini, Lucia Giacani, and the works of two younger talents, Angelica Cantù Rajnoldi and the Aostan Veronique Mazzoli. Fashion images have also been and are currently made by artists such as Florence Henri, Irina Ionesco (whose work is veiled in an aura of mystery), Vanessa Beecroft (who used fashion for her artistic research), and Viviane Sassen, one of the most well-known figures in that world.

Some of the photographers proposed here began as models before moving behind the lens, such as Lee Miller and Alice Springs (wife of the famous Helmut Newton). "Sguardi di Intesa" is a reference to that complicity created between the photographer and the subject. Different personalities capable of offering interpretations that change through time, but which start from a common condition: being women.

Lucia Giacani - Abstract

«Lucia Giacani is a woman who reflects another woman: this is the intimate reason behind her work. Her gaze—naturally feminine and revolutionary—is the silent engine working behind every shot and through all her flashes.» Once again, we return to the exchange of gazes.

Her images refer to a dimension of surreal artistry, as seen in the photos on display where a woman from Baltic worlds—an imagined rather than experienced Great North—resembles a large doll topped by sculptural hats. The artistic reference perhaps recalls a three-dimensional, sculptural dimension more than the two-dimensionality of painting.

Through the use of colors—cold in these images—the photographer creates "tableaux vivants" in which she sets fashion in its most dreamlike and narrative sense. The viewer is called to participate, to step onto the stage, to emancipate themselves, to understand, and to study what is proposed from time to time. Passivity is not permitted.

Lucia Giacani (Jesi, 1976) studied Design and Photography at ISIA in Rome. In a short time, she developed her own style and worked with various publications including "Vanity Fair," "Vogue Gioiello," and "Vogue Pelle," becoming a regular collaborator for "Vogue Accessory."

Despite having traveled extensively in Asia, the world she feels most connected to is London. «I believe my work is not typically Italian; certainly, there is the sense of Italian taste, but it is a gritty, surreal, and personal style. Something that is appreciated more abroad.» A crucial moment of her work is the planning of every shot; a passionate sketcher, she always prepares meticulously.

Her research is, first and foremost, a staging: of fashion, naturally, which often turns into an ironic allegory of our daily moments, but also of photography itself. What emerges first is the fashion photographer's ability to imbue every work with her own artistic gaze, with references ranging from Bernini’s Madonnas to Andy Warhol’s portraits.

Daria Jorioz - Regional Department

«Fashion as a socio-cultural phenomenon can be studied endlessly, each time discovering and adding new pieces to the puzzle that composes it: art, creativity, commercial strategies, communities.»

Daria Veledeeva - Editor-in-Chief, Harper's Bazaar Italia

Fashion photography constitutes a very precious document for knowing and understanding this universe, from haute couture to prêt-à-porter, but it also represents a formidable testimony of society as a whole, carrying values that are not only aesthetic and formal, but also anthropological, sociological, historical, philosophical, and psychological.

"Sguardi di Intesa" shows us that behind the camera lens, there has been no lack of prepared and determined professionals, some of great talent, though often less known and fewer in number than their male colleagues. This exhibition specifically designed for the Centro Saint-Bénin in Aosta delivers a visual narrative full of surprises, in the awareness that sharing brings enrichment and a multiplicity of viewpoints. The creative adventure of over twenty photographers is marked across eras, expressive languages, different backgrounds, social origins, and temperaments, capturing those gazes that unite the women photographers to the women photographed, models and inspiring muses.

From Florence Henri to Maria Vittoria Backhaus, from Tina Modotti to Elisabetta Catalano, from Brigitte Niedermair to Vanessa Beecroft, the artists featured in the past and present international scene are an inspiration also for the new generations of photographers appearing today, of which the exhibition suggests a lively synthesis.

For centuries, history was told by men, and it is necessary to re-establish a balance in the narrative. Finally, in recent decades, something has begun to move, our view of the world has broadened and, as often happens, it has been cinema, theater, literature, art, and photography that have offered us new perspectives on reality, restoring centrality also to female figures. But another thousand years must pass to bring back complexity and coherence to the narrative of Human History.

The history of women is still waiting to be written.

Centro Saint-Bénin

March 23 - September 22, 2024
OPENING HOURS

Tuesday-Sunday, from 10 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm.

Centro Saint-Bénin
Via Festaz 27 - Aosta
Tel. +39 0165272687