Italians

This is a sensitive portrait of Italian society in the early sixties by well-known photographer Bruno Barbey. From 1961 to 1964, Barbey spent much time in Italy trying to capture the spirit of the nation through his photography. Now, for the first time, his results have been collected into one book. Barbey's subjects have the archetypical profiles that are instantly recognizable from the popular Italian films of Pasolini, Visconti, and Fellini - the modern commedia dell'arte of the ragazzi, nuns, aristocracy, carabinieri, priests, beggars, prostitutes, and mafiosi. Barbey's sensitive eye and Tahar Ben Jelloun's subtle pen chart Italy's emotional geography from Rome to Milan.