THE EXHIBITION ‘CHILDREN’ BY STEVE MCCURRY
The new exhibition ‘Children’ by US photographer Steve McCurry will be held in the Sottoporticato of the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa. It pays tribute to an extraordinary period of life, a gallery of surprising portraits that tell a real chapter of history, thanks to his extraordinary narrative capacity.
100 photographs have been selected for this thematic exhibition in Italy dedicated to childhood and curated by Biba Giacchetti and Melissa Camilli of the SudEst57. The photographs were taken by the best-loved photographer of all time over almost fifty years, portraying children from every corner of the world in scenes of everyday life.
A great master of international photography, McCurry has always demonstrated his very strong empathy and unique ability to weave narratives together, deeply capturing the essence of what he portrays.
One of McCurry’s intentions is to raise public awareness about youth exploitation. In the countries where the photographer has travelled, especially in Asia, too many children are forced to work when they should be playing and going to school.
McCurry’s exhibition in Genoa, with Peter Bottazzi’s scenographic set-up and lighting by Titta Buongiorno, begins with a touching series of portraits. It then develops through images of war and poetry, suffering and joy, wonder and irony. Visitors will be ideally following McCurry in his travels through India, Burma, Japan, Africa, up to Brazil, coming into contact with the most remote ethnic groups in the most diverse social contexts, and highlighting our human condition made up of universal feelings and proud eyes expressing the same dignity, as also reminded by the legal principles that offer a significant counterpoint to the images.
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As pointed out by Peter Bottazzi, Art Director of the exhibition, McCurry’s Children exhibition is an experiment to approach the artist’s world in an innovative way and get an in-depth understanding of it.
Each image in the exhibition is the result of layered research.
In the exhibition, for the first time, one has the opportunity to explore what is usually hidden, namely the creative process of the great Steve McCurry.
These are stories of joy and community, loneliness, resilience and solidarity, family and friendship, always told with respect and participation.
McCurry Children is a journey into childhood to meet young human beings, who, despite their highly diverse conditions, speak a language in which we can all recognize ourselves.
A journey also remembering our own childhood, and food for thought about the responsibility we all have towards the new generations, well aware that the dream of a fairer future depends on the actions of today.
To get to know and explore the condition of childhood in the light of Steve McCurry’s images, during the exhibition, Defence for Children International Italia will be organizing several information, education and training activities for both adults and young people. Based in Genoa, Defence for Children International Italia works throughout Italy, offering socio-educational activities and opportunities to empower boys and girls and promote a culture of greater recognition of their rights. For every exhibition ticket sold, 1€ will be donated to this association, thus highlighting the powerful role of art as a tool to think about and disseminate social values. The exhibition “Mc Curry Children” is curated by Biba Giacchetti with Melissa Camilli. It is promoted by Palazzo Ducale Fondazione per la Cultura Genova and Civita Mostre e Musei in collaboration with SudEst57 and Defence for Children International Italia. ARtTdirector: Peter Bottazzi.
Video contributions: Silvia Rigon.
BIOGRAFIA DI STEVE MCCURRY
For more than 50 years, Steve McCurry has been recognised as one of the most influential voices in contemporary photography.
His mastery in the use of colour, empathy, and humanity make his photographs unforgettable. His photographs have been featured in a countless number of book and magazine covers. About twenty monographs have been published about him, and his exhibitions are being constantly held around the world.
Born in a suburb of Philadelphia, McCurry studied film and history at Pennsylvania State University, before going on to work for a local newspaper.
After two years of freelance work, McCurry made the first of many subsequent trips to India. Traveling with little more than a bag of clothes and another of films, he made his way across the subcontinent, exploring the country with his camera.
It was after several months of travel that he found himself crossing the border into Pakistan. There, he met a group of refugees from Afghanistan, who smuggled him across the border into their country, just as the Russian invasion was closing the country to all western journalists. Emerging in traditional dress, with full beard and weather-worn features after weeks embedded with the Mujahideen, McCurry brought the world the first images of the conflict in Afghanistan, putting a human face to the issue on every masthead.
Since then, McCurry has gone on to create stunning images on all seven continents and countless countries. His work spans conflicts, vanishing cultures, ancient traditions and contemporary culture alike – yet always retains the human element that made his celebrated image of the Afghan Girl such a powerful image.
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McCurry has been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards in the industry, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal, National Press Photographers Award, and an unprecedented four first prize awards from the World Press Photo contest. The Minister of French Culture has also appointed McCurry a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters and most recently, the Royal Photographic Society in London awarded McCurry the Centenary Medal for Lifetime Achievement.
McCurry has published books including The Imperial Way (1985), Monsoon (1988), Portraits (1999), South Southeast (2000), Sanctuary (2002), The Path to Buddha: A Tibetan Pilgrimage (2003), Steve McCurry (2005), Looking East (2006), In the Shadow of Mountains (2007), The Unguarded Moment, (2009), The Iconic Photographs (2011), Steve McCurry Icons – Conversations with Biba Giacchetti (2012), Untold: The Stories Behind the Photographs (2013), From These Hands: A Journey Along the Coffee Trail (2015), India (2015), and On Reading (2016), Afghanistan (2017), A Life in Pictures (2018), Animals (2019), In Search of Elsewhere (2020), Stories and Dreams-Portraits of Childhood (2021).
