While studying abroad in Italy, Kevin Haas ’05 embraced the tourist stereotype, with a camera constantly around his neck.
Some of what he saw is chronicled in the exhibit “Spettatori e Spettacoli (Spectators and Spectacles): Photographs of Italians in Public,” now on view in the Zilkha Gallery.
“I spent a good deal of time walking around and observing Italian society and culture on the streets and in the piazzas,” Haas said.
The show includes sixteen photographs taken in Naples, Oria, Amalfi, Rome, and Bologna.
What makes Haas’ work so distinctive is that it does not focus on Italy’s distinguished architecture or scenery, but instead on its people. Images of a parade, a train, a wedding, a soccer game, and a fireworks display capture everyday Italian life and the people that live it.
“While I was strolling around observing the spectacles of the streets with my camera, I felt like I was participating in the public life,” Haas said.
He noticed that in Italy, people didn’t always walk with a destination in mind.
“[Many people walk] for the sake of walking, for looking at the others who are out and about, and to be seen,” Haas said. “Many consider Italy to be the fashion capital of the world,” Haas said, “and a walk in the city [is] like a parade in which those seated at the sidewalk cafes look and comment on the clothes of the passersby.”
The theme of watching and being watched runs through all of the work.
“I found the exhibit fascinating because it illustrated how many levels of watching and being watched occur on a daily basis,” said Joss Stone ’08. “For instance, in ‘Looking Through the Legs of a Horse Sculpture…’ the photographer was watching a woman observe a sculpture as a security camera observed them both. Meanwhile, I noticed that I could see my face reflected in the glass over the photograph and that my friend was watching me examine the picture.”
“In this exhibit, all of us – photographer, photographic subjects and audience – exist together as spectators,” Haas said.
One photograph depicts two elderly women looking down at the street from a second-floor balcony. Another captures the enthusiasm and allegiance Italians show during a soccer game, as one devoted fan waves his hand to disagree with a referee’s call.
A particularly striking group of photos shows shoppers gazing at clothing store window displays.
“Italians do not hesitate to pause in front of window displays to examine the prices and details of new fashions upon plastic mannequins, which sometimes appear to have been set up and designed with as much care as art exhibits,” Haas said.
Haas says the turnout the show has received so far has been gratifying after all the time and effort he put into it.
“After trudging through the artic wonderland that is Foss Hill, I felt like I was entering a completely different world through the pictures of Italy in this exhibi— world full of vitality, passion, and pride,” said Elissa Gross ’08.
“Spettatori e Spettacoli (Spectators and Spectacles): Photographs of Italians in Public,” will run through Sunday at Zilkha.
Leave a Reply