CAMERA Turin recounts in more than 200 shots Dorothea Lange, among the great photographers of the 20th century

Following the exhibition on Eve Arnold, which reached more than 27,000 visitors, CAMERA - Centro Italiano per la Fotografia continues its presentation of the great female photographers of the 20th century with a retrospective devoted to Dorothea Lange (Hoboken, New Jersey, 1895 - San Francisco, 1965). From July 19 to October 8, 2023, the exhibition Dorothea Lange. Tales of Life and Work, curated by CAMERA artistic director Walter Guadagnini and curator Monica Poggi: More than two hundred images will be on display to trace the career of the famous photographer.

The exhibition focuses particularly on the 1930s and 1940s, the absolute peak of her activity, a period in which she documented the momentous events that changed the economic and social structure of the United States. Indeed, between 1931 and 1939, the Southern United States was hit by a severe drought and continuous sandstorms that brought agriculture in the area to its knees, forcing thousands of people to migrate. Dorothea Lange is part of the group of photographers called upon by the Farm Security Administration (a government agency charged with promoting New Deal policies) to document the exodus of farm workers seeking employment on the Central Valley’s large plantations.Lange takes thousands of shots, collecting stories and narratives, later reported in the detailed captions that complement the images.

It was in this context that he made Migrant Mother, the portrait, which has gone down in history, of a desperate young mother exhausted by poverty living with her seven children in an encampment of tents and disused cars. The climate crisis, migration, discrimination: despite the fact that we are several decades removed from these images, Dorothea Lange’s themes are of absolute topicality and provide food for thought and opportunities for debate on the present, as well as highlighting an indispensable stage in the history of twentieth-century photography. The exhibition thus offers the public an opportunity to learn more about the author of one of the iconic images of motherhood and dignity of the 20th century and to question the present.

In parallel to the exhibition dedicated to Dorothea Lange, CAMERA presents from July 19 to October 8, 2023 the group show FUTURES 2023: new narratives, curated by Giangavino Pazzola, who coordinates CAMERA’s research projects. Six young photographic talents, selected for the European program for the promotion and enhancement of emerging artists FUTURES Photography, in which CAMERA represents Italy, explore the theme of the visual representation of contemporaneity in over forty shots. Drawing on different practices of photographic creation, from those of reusing archival images and materials to those involving the use of software and new technologies, the projects presented investigate not only the customs and habits of today’s society, but also the new trends crossing the landscape of contemporary photography. What new forms of narrating and reading the world through photography? What can we glimpse on the horizon thanks to them? These are some of the questions posed by the photographers in their visual research. The projects on display are by Andrea Camiolo (Leonforte, 1998), Nicola Di Giorgio (Palermo, 1994), Zoe Natale Mannella (London, 1997), Eleonora Roaro (Varese, 1989), Sara Scanderebech (Nardò, 1985), and Alex Zoboli (Guastalla, 1990).

FUTURES is co-financed by the Creative Europe Program of the European Union.

For info and hours: www.camera.to

Image: Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, detail (1936; The New York Public Library | Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington)

CAMERA Turin recounts in more than 200 shots Dorothea Lange, among the great photographers of the 20th century

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