From September 12 to November 15, 2026, the Casa Giorgione Museum in Castelfranco Veneto, in the province of Treviso, will host the exhibition *Italian Photography 1955. The New Men of Photography and Gino Oliva in Castelfranco, curated by photography researcher Simona Guerra. Sponsored by the Municipality of Castelfranco Veneto in collaboration with the El Paveion Photography Club and the Università Popolare, and under the patronage of S.I.S.F. (Italian Society for the Study of Photography), the exhibition reconstructs a period in post-World War II Italian photography beginning with the National Exhibition and City of Castelfranco Veneto Photography Award, held in 1954 and 1955.
In the postwar period, as Italy grappled with material and cultural reconstruction following the conflict, photography too was undergoing a phase of transformation. Freed from the stylistic conventions of the regime and the rhetoric of propaganda, Italian photographic practice began to engage with the international scene. Provincial centers also played a role in this process, particularly Castelfranco Veneto, which in the 1950s became a hub for gatherings, discussions, and exchanges dedicated to the new languages of the image.
The exhibition takes its cue from the history of the Award, conceived by Gino Oliva, a prominent figure in local intellectual life and the driving force behind the initiative. Linked to this story is the publication of the book *Fotografia Italiana 1955*, which helped document that phase of renewal. The exhibition brings together approximately one hundred works, mostly original vintage prints from that era—some of which have never been shown before—sourced from public and private archives, libraries, and institutions of national importance.
The exhibition features works by Fulvio Roiter, Giulio Parmiani, Paolo Monti, Carlo Bevilacqua, Ferruccio Ferroni, Piergiorgio Branzi, Paolo Bocci, Giovanni Salani, Alfredo Camisa, Pio Baldo Camici, Luciano Ferri, Francesco Giovannini, Toni del Tin, Nino Migliori, Gianni Berengo Gardin, Bruno Simoncelli, Mario de Biasi, and Giuseppe Cavalli, as well as other artists who participated in the exhibition.
A specific section is also dedicated to female artists, in a context where photography competitions were still dominated by male participants. The exhibition features the works of Ada Gazzaniga, Laura Martinelli Stroili, Lavinia Ruggieri, and Maria Sartori—four female artists who participated in the competitions of that era, bringing their own artistic exploration and sensibility. Two in-depth sections round out the exhibition. The first is dedicated to Gino Oliva, photographer and intellectual. Oliva helped make Castelfranco a meeting place for some of the most active photographers of those years, establishing personal relationships and exchanges of ideas with them. The selection of his photographs also allows us to observe the influence exerted on him by the photographers with whom he came into contact and who were his friends.
The second section, on the other hand, traces the early career of Mario Giacomelli. In 1955, the photographer—who had only begun using a camera on Christmas Eve 1953—received his first major national recognition in Castelfranco. It was Paolo Monti who recognized his talent early on, calling him “the new man of photography.” The works on display include a selection of early photographs and experiments that document the beginnings of Giacomelli’s artistic exploration. Alongside the photographs, the exhibition features a documentary collection consisting of registers and handwritten notes by jury members, correspondence between organizers and artists, periodicals from the time, and original catalogs. These documents also make it possible to reconstruct the organizational dynamics, the relationships among the key figures, and the aesthetic and cultural context in which the Prize developed.
The exhibition also serves as a follow-up to the Study Day held on November 22 under the patronage of the S.I.S.F., which was attended by historians, critics, and scholars of photography. Contributors included Claudio Masiero and Giancarlo Baggio of the El Paveion Association in Castelfranco Veneto; photography historian Manfredo Manfroi; Simona Guerra and Marta Camisa of the Alfredo Camisa Archive in Milan; Massimo Stefanutti, president of the La Gondola ETS Photography Club in Venice; Alvise Rampini, director of the CRAF Center for Research and Archiving of Photography in Spilimbergo; Michele Smargiassi, a journalist for *La Repubblica*; Stefania Rössl of the University of Bologna; and Massimo Sordi, photographer and curator of OMNE Fest in Castelfranco Veneto. Finally, the official exhibition catalog, published by the Municipality of Castelfranco Veneto, will be presented at the opening.
Opening Hours
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Closed on Mondays
Tickets
Full price €7.00 | Reduced price €5.00
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| Italian Photography 1955: The Postwar Pioneers Return to Castelfranco Veneto (Treviso) |
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