Cycling as told by the greats of photography. An exhibition in Val di Sole

Cycling doubly stars in Val di Sole. On the field, with the MTB World Championships specialties Cross Country, 4X, Downhill, XCC, E-MTB that Val di Sole will host from August 25 to 29, and in the history of photography with the major exhibition, world premiere, Racing Lives. Cycling and the Magnum Photographers. From Robert Capa to Alex Majoli from July 1 to Sept. 26, 2021 at Caldes Castle (Trento, Italy).

The exhibition of the masters of the famous Magnum photo agency (about 80 images, many of them never before exhibited to the public), will be hosted by the ancient Castle of Caldes, thanks to the collaboration of the Buonconsiglio Castle, provincial monuments and collections, and the Rete dei castelli del Trentino.

Promoting both the world event and this original exhibition-event is theVal di Sole Tourist Board, which for the exhibition-organized by the Suasez company-acts in collaboration with the Buonconsiglio Castle, provincial monuments and collections, and the Municipality of Caldes.

The exhibition is curated by Marco Minuz, who has chosen art photographs that explore the human dimension of the sport that makes cycling one of the most popular and beloved sports. Recounting the epics of the champions and the great international events, Tour de France in primis, but also the daily, extraordinary humanity of champions and the general public who on the roadsides and at the finish line support them, identifying with them and their commitment. Sweat, mud, tenacity, feats of men who grind kilometers measuring themselves first and foremost with themselves, their strength and their limits. Striking are the images of exhausted men, literally collapsing on the asphalt or cobblestones as soon as they cross the finish line, the emotional participation of their supporters, the indifferent serenity of a herd that continues to graze while the humans seem to go crazy over their champion’s feat.

The spectacular sequence of images in the exhibition is opened by a little-known series of photographs taken by Robert Capa in 1939 when he was commissioned by"Match" magazine to cover that year’s Tour de France. Photographs where the focus shifts mainly to the participation of the public in the race, capturing glances and compositional balances.

Another series collects photos taken by Guy Le Querrec in the 1954 Tour de France; at the time, the photographer was only 13 years old and was in Brittany to spend his summer vacation and where, in that edition, the famous bicycle race passed by. About 30 years later, in 1985, the photographer was invited to follow the Renault-Elf cycling team during winter training; during this season he took photographs of champion Laurent Fignon and followed the cyclocross championship.

The tour continues with photographs by Christopher Anderson dedicated to cyclist Lance Amstrong in 2004 that suggest the sad ending of this sportsman’s career due to doping.

A section will be devoted to spectators with their rituals with photos by Mark Power, Robert Capa, Harry Gruyaert and Richard Kalvar. Then images taken by French photographer Harry Gruyaert in the 1982 Tour and a section devoted to velodroms, with images by René Burri, Stuart Franklin and Raymond Depardon. The Italian photographer Alex Majoli will be present with photographs dedicated to the famous Milanese bike manufacturer Alberto Masi with the location of his workshop under the curves of the Vigorelli Velodrome. Finally, a selection of images by Peter Marlow dedicated to fragments of everyday life of riders engaged in the Tour of Brittany in 2003.

The project aims to investigate, through the gaze of famous Magnum photographers, the human dimension of one of the sports most followed by the general public. Choosing the sensibility of the authors of this agency allows us to go beyond the sporting feats, and focus attention on the alchemy of cycling, the only sport, as Gianni Mura used to repeat, where “he who flees is not a coward.”

For all information you can visit the official Val di Sole website.

Pictured: Robert Capa, Tour de France (1939). © International Center of Photography / Magnum Photos

Cycling as told by the greats of photography. An exhibition in Val di Sole

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