Elio Luxardo's Portraits on Display at Rome's Casa del Cinema

Curated for the Rome Film Festival, the photo exhibit, Luxardo e il cinema, consists of images of iconic protagonists during the infamous Golden Age of Italian cinema, including Alberto Sordi, Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica and Gina Lollobrigida. All the works, which will remain on display until December 1, belong to the 3M Foundation archive, a permanent cultural research and training institution and proprietor of a vast photographic archive of about 110,000 images.

Through this exhibition, created in collaboration with Daniele Luxardo, nephew of the famous photographer, and curated by the photo critic Roberto Mutti, Fondazione 3M pays tribute to the great faces of Italian cinema. As a lover of cinema, Elio Luxardo had learned on the set to use lights in an innovative way to enhance faces. In his shots, the photographer manages to bring out the characteristics of each of his subjects, emphasizing the irony of one look and the seductive strength of another.

Watch a clip from my interview with Daniele Luxardo at the Casa del Cinema..

Elio Luxardo was born in 1908 in Brazil to parents of Italian origins. He initially established himself as a documentarian, learning the craft of photography from his father, a professional photographer. Moving to Rome, he enrolled at the Experimental Center of Cinematography with the dream of becoming a director. However, he left school almost immediately to enter the Sem Bosch photographer's studio and took over the business, quickly establishing himself as a portraitist. Precisely in this capacity, the photographer was appreciated by the Cinecittà stars for his ability to seek beauty in faces and bodies, and to create shots that were never repetitive.

The Luxardo e il cinema exhibition will be open to the public until December 1, 2019. Click here for more information.