Paolo Di Paolo’s unseen images from post-war Italy

Around 20 years ago, while rooting through her father’s cellar in search for a pair of skis, Silvia Di Paolo found a trunk containing 250,000 negatives, prints and slides. Aged 20 at the time, she had no idea that her father, Paolo Di Paolo, had been a photographer – let alone the top contributor to Il Mondo, one of Italy’s most popular current affairs magazines.

Born in Larino, Southern Italy, in 1925, Paolo Di Paolo moved to Rome in the aftermath of the Second World War, hoping to become a photographer. He secured the job at Il Mondo in 1954, where he worked for 14 years contributing 573 photographs, from reportage in Japan, Iran and New York, to portraits of some of the biggest names in cinema and art.

Shortly after the magazine folded in 1966, Di Paolo gave up photography. He felt he was “no longer in tune with the times” and turned his attention to philosophy and history, hiding his impressive archive of images in a cellar until their discovery more than 20 years later.

Now, after more than 50 years of neglect, over 250 of Di Paolo’s images will be exhibited at MAXXI in Rome [the National Museum of 21st Century Arts], thanks to Alessandro Michele, creative director at Gucci, who stumbled upon the photographs in a gallery/bookstore, and to the museum’s growing attention and research dedicated to photography. In collaboration with the museum, Gucci has now collected more than 300 of Di Paolo’s images, leading to this exhibition and a publication of the photographer’s work titled Fotografie.

Pier Paolo Pasolini al “monte dei cocci”, Roma, 1960. foto Paolo Di Paolo © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo (Courtesy Collezione Fotografia MAXXI)

Di Paolo’s images from the 1950s and 60s explore the many contradictions presented in post-war Italy, between both the rich and poor, and the old and new. A section of the exhibition titled Society/Rome presents images of young women strolling along the promenade in short-shorts, alongside images of agricultural communities that coexisted next to Ferrari workshops.

The photographer also became known for his intimate portraits of artists and intellectuals, which he arranged through personal connections. Among the discovered collection are photographs of film director Pier Paolo Pasolini visiting the Monte Testaccio in Rome, playwright Tennesse Williams on the beach with his dog, and actress Kim Novak ironing in her room at the Grand Hotel.

Di Paolo created a relationship based on empathy and trust and that made every shot unique and unmistakeable, writes his daughter Silvia. Many of his photographs were unpublished because he thought it would be inappropriate to give such intimate photographs to the press.

“Di Paolo found an independent, different, and cultured path,”  says curator Giovanna Calvenzi. “He has the capacity to enter the world of art, literature and film with a light, and at times humorous, touch.”

Paolo Di Paolo. Mondo Perduto is curated by Giovanna Calvenzi, and will run at the MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome, Italy, from 17 April – 30 June https://www.maxxi.art/en/events/paolo-di-paolo-mondo-perduto/

Viareggio, 1959. foto Paolo Di Paolo, © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo
Passeggiata a Via Montenapoleone, Milano, 1962. foto Paolo Di Paolo, © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo
Autostrada del Sole, inaugurazione della tratta Roma-Firenze, 1962. foto Paolo Di Paolo, © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo
Foto di moda, Tor di Nona, Roma 1957-58. foto Paolo Di Paolo, © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo
I funerali di Palmiro Togliatti, Roma, 25 agosto 1964. foto Paolo Di Paolo, © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo (courtesy Collezione Fotografia MAXXI)
Pier Paolo Pasolini al “monte dei cocci”, Roma, 1960. foto Paolo Di Paolo © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo
Gina Lollogrigida e Giorgio De Chirico, Roma, 1961. foto Paolo Di Paolo, © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo (courtesy Collezione Fotografia MAXXI)
Oriana Fallaci, Festival del Cinema, Lido di Venezia, 1963. foto Paolo Di Paolo © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo
Renato Guttuso a Salita del Grillo, Roma, 1964. foto Paolo Di Paolo © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo
Charlotte Rampling, sul set di “Sequestro di persona”, Sardegna, 1966. Foto Paolo Di Paolo, © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo
Monica Vitti e Michelangelo Antonioni, Roma, 1958. foto Paolo Di Paolo, © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo
Marcello Mastroianni, senza data. foto Paolo Di Paolo, © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo (courtesy Collezione Fotografia MAXXI)
Sofia Loren e Marcello Mastroianni, Cinecittà, Roma, 1955. foto Paolo Di Paolo, © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo
Anna Magnani nella sua villa a San Felice Circeo (Roma), 1955. foto Paolo Di Paolo, © Archivio Paolo Di Paolo, Courtesy of Collezione Fotografia MAXXI
Marigold Warner

Deputy Editor

Marigold Warner worked as an editor at BJP between 2018 and 2023. She studied English Literature and History of Art at the University of Leeds, followed by an MA in Magazine Journalism from City, University of London. Her work has been published by titles including the Telegraph Magazine, Huck, Elephant, Gal-dem, The Face, Disegno, and the Architects Journal.