LOCKDOWN ITALIA seen by the Foreign Press

Over 70 shots by the photographers of the Foreign Press Association in Italy and the most important news agencies describe the fundamental phases of the pandemic: from the end of March to the first signs of a restart. Extended until January 10, 2021.

The exhibition, curated by the Foreign Press Association in Italy, is a tribute to a country that despite has been hit hard has set an example for the rest of the world: a journey through images that catches the dramatic situation in hospitals and red areas, and also its resilience; deserted cities, solidarity, life on the balconies and the slow recovery towards what has become the new ordinary life.

Thanks to the shots of the 30 photographers on display, coming from ten different countries - including some Italian correspondents of the three main agencies represented in the Foreign Press, Reuters, AP and AFP - the visitor can return to the period between March and June to relive the fundamental moments that accompanied the lockdown: from the first dramatic closures, to the growing feeling of suffering in the country; from the dignified resistance of the entire community to the slow resumption of activities. A photographic journey dedicated to historical documentation which wants to pay homage, at the same time, to the courage and resilience shown by the Italians in the most difficult days of the pandemic, as well as to the professionals of the information world who went to the front line to document it, also at their own risk.

The exhibition runs along an exhibition path of more than seventy photos proposed as a time and emotional journey through the different phases of the pandemic. It begins with a first part in which the drama of the historical moment strongly emerges in the images of intensive care, coffins inside churches and the suffering faces of nurses and doctors on the front line. Then it describes the deafening silences of the streets and squares of the country, to continue with the suffering of the patients and the families of the victims. In the second part of the itinerary, we return to see the “light” of rebirth with the images of people reacting. Initially with the songs from the balconies and terraces or with the reopening of the few stores authorized to work and then with the gradual return to normality, though conditioned by new rules - masks, temperature measurement, social distancing - that we have learned to know and respect.

Finally, the exhibition closes with a section dedicated to the work of reporters at the time of the pandemic. A collage of photos that shows how press correspondents have had to adapt themselves to the new working conditions imposed by the lockdown through domestic live reports, reportage with mask in deserted cities, online press conferences and interviews.