fabio novembre: steve mccurry exhibition design at MACRO, rome

fabio novembre: steve mccurry exhibition design at MACRO, rome installation view of steve mccurry’s exhibition at the MACRO testaccio la pelanda, designed and curated by fabio novembre all photos by pasquale formisano courtesy of the MACRO

american photography steve mccurry is known for his photojournalistic work which has been featured in such prestigious magazines as newsweek, time, and life, one of his most iconic photos being the famous portrait of the young afghan girl with green eyes that was featured on the cover of national geographic in june 1985. a selection of over 200 images, pulled from mccurry’s vast archive of images built up over his 30 years as a photographer and reporter are on show at the MACRO testaccio la pelanda in rome. curated by italian designer fabio novembre, who has also conceived the exhibition space, the presentation features a special selection of ‘italian pictures’ which mccurry took especially for the event during his many stays over the course of a year in several cities and regions of italy – a tribute to the country in celebration of its 150th anniversary of unification.

bird’s-eye views of one of the domed pavilions

the linear volume in which the exposition takes place, houses numerous domed pavilions. the result is an indoor nomadic village of sorts with interpenetrating areas which speak to the perception of humanity expressed through the images on show. the photographs are hung on the inner structures of the open arched proportions, creating a sense of seclusion while still offering views to the other display structures, the viewer standing surrounded by worlds beyond their own.

general view

fabio novembre on the steve mccurry exhibition project: ‘when benoit mandelbrot, father of the fractals’ geometry, described his experience of researcher, he used to define it as: ‘nomads by choice, pioneers out of need’; thus, when I think of steve mccurry, I tend to apply the same aphorism to his life of tireless researcher of the human nature. the fractals of mandelbrot represent the reality hidden behind that principle of euclidean order we have always associated to nature. the subjects of mccurry’s photographs represent the reality hidden behind that glossy communication which pretends to represent the humanity. and so, as mandelbrot has provided the first mathematical tools to deal with the chaos, all the same mccurry provides us with visual accounts to deal with the diversity. steve has all the characteristics of the true researcher: from the patience necessary to carry out an experiment (or to take a photograph), to the restlessness that always pushes him toward a new frontier to cross.

the photographs are hung on the inner structures of the open arched proportions