Feature: Master photos showing post-war Italy attract viewers

Every year, Corrado Ranucci takes the train to Turin to see an art exhibition -- at least once a year.

A retired professor of Italian language, history and philosophy, Ranucci lives in Biella, a town 100 kilometers from Turin, in the northwest of Italy.

On Friday, he was one of the first visitors of the exhibit L'Italia di Magnum.

Set on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the famous Magnum Photos, the exhibition retraces the history and culture of Italy, through the images of well-known photographers of Magnum, the photo agency.

"I like this historic path that unfolds through the rooms," Ranucci said when looking at the images. "I like Robert Capa, of course, for the beauty of his pictures, and in general, photos that show human condition."

From the aftermath of the World War II up to present days, the exhibition proceeds through the history of Italy with a chronological order.

It opens with a tribute to French humanist photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, who was considered as a master of candid photography, and his travels to Italy in the 1930's.

Among the masters of photojournalists on display are Robert Capa, Elliott Erwitt, Erich Lessing, Martin Parr, David Seymour, Ferdinando Scianna and many others.

Magnum was the co-founding partner of Camera (Home of Italians), said Walter Guadagnini, director of the Turin center and curator of the exhibition.

"We decided to celebrate the 70th anniversary with an exhibition on Italy. It tells not only moments of the Italian history, but also some traditions and the culture of the country," Guadagnini said.

There is also a work conceived especially for the occasion, the one by Alex Majoli, Guadagnini said. The Italian photographer recounts the discotheques of the Adriatic coast of present and past.

"There are iconic photos, like the image of the Fiat Topolino car in Rome shot by Elliott Erwitt, and other less known,"said Arianna Visani, who curated the exhibition together with Walter Guadagnini.

"Some images recount historical moments, like the 1970's referendum on divorce seen by Leonard Freed, or the funerals of Pope John Paul II, shot by Paolo Pellegrin more recently."

"Visiting this exhibition is really like to open a book of story of photojournalism.... There are pictures that make me laugh, and others that make me reflect," said Monica Lanaro, who works as a project manager at Fabrica, a research center on communication based in Treviso of Italy.

She arrived in Turin for a work trip and decided to visit the exhibition with her colleague Angelo Semeraro, an interaction designer.

"It is very interesting to see how these photographers, not Italians, looked at the country," she said.

"I had fun observing the tourists visiting the Sistine Chapel, photographed by David Seymour in 1947; or those who were participating in the historic Picasso exhibition held in Milan in 1953, portrayed by Rene Burri," Lanaro said.

"Also, I had never seen a Silvio Berlusconi so young, like the one portrayed by Ferdinando Scianna in 1980. Instead, some pictures made me thoughtful: I saw photos of Naples in ruins, shot after the Second World War, and I thought about the Syrian town of Aleppo today," she added.

The photo show includes various images. Herbert List takes the visitors into Cinecitta (Movie City), Thomas Hoepker shows boxer Cassius Clay at the 1960 Rome Olympics, and Bruno Barbey documented the funeral of famous Italian statesman Palmiro Togliatti.

Sicily in the 1970s was shot by Ferdinando Scianna, the Naples of Mafia Camorra in the 1980's by Patrick Zachmann. Those photos devoted to the most recent years include the G8 summit in Genoa and the Clericus Cup, a football tournament among members of the clergy.

"I am not a photographer, I am a student of medical biotechnologies, but I shoot images as a hobby," said Cladia Donisi, a 26-year-old photo lover.

"I love the images of fashion shows taken by Paolo Pellegrin in Milan in 2006. The exhibit is really interesting to me also because I am young, and I can see here the past of the country," she added. Endit