PAPARAZZI - lights, camera, action!
From 11 November, fabulous jewellery and ‘stolen’ shots at Bulgari’s museum space DomvsAvrea on Via Condotti let you relive the lavish Dolce Vita atmosphere, marked by gossip, celebrity glitz and glamour: the Paparazzi exhibition pays tribute to all these elements and to the untameable photographers who fuelled the legend of an era.
Dolce Vita icon Gina Lollobrigida, the radiant beauty Isabella Ferrari who starred in Academy Award Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty - La Grande Bellezza and the legendary “King of paparazzi” Rino Barillari attended the exhibition opening event yesterday evening, delighting the guests with moments of amusing complicity.
Anita Ekberg’s sapphires of choice, Anna Magnani’s most beloved diamonds and the emeralds that seduced Elizabeth Taylor are all on display. The stars elegantly wore their jewels both on set and at exclusive soirées, distinctively expressing their taste and personality. Sumptuous jewellery and sophisticated accessories that tell the story of the return to joy and companionship after the difficult years of the post-war period are also on display.
In the 50s and 60s, Rome and the Cinecittà studios became the go-to set for multi-million American productions. Film stars, adored on screen and in magazines, graced the Eternal City, renamed ‘Hollywood on the Tiber’. Paparazzi, always lurking with their cameras, documented their carefree moments, romances and extravagance – little fragments of the dream life. Masters at capturing the moment, they instantly introduced an entirely new, all-Italian approach to journalism to the world.
Also featuring as part of the Paparazzi exhibition are unforgettable memorabilia and objects used by celebrities that made their mark in history: such as the arrows Anita Ekberg shot at the photographer after a lively evening in front of the cameras, or the very camera the relentless Marcello Geppetti used to immortalise the ‘scandalous kiss’ between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton on board a yacht in Ischia, and that would later provide the press with evidence of their clandestine love story that began in Rome on the set of Cleopatra.
Other unmissable images come from the archives of Rino Barillari, named by Fellini as the “King of Paparazzi”, and Pierluigi Praturlon, the “Prince” of theatrical stage photography and red carpet shots. Shots by Tazio Secchiaroli are also on display. It was Secchiaroli’s work that inspired Fellini to create the character Paparazzo, the photographer in La Dolce Vita: it would be this character who would go on to name a generation of masters of photography, experts at capturing escapes, ambushes and sometimes real altercations with pursued stars at lightning speed.
Some shots from the archives of photographer Marcello Mencarini, whose author remains unknown to this day, will also be on display for the first time in Italy. These images were kept in what Mencarini called ‘La Valigia Romana’ (The Roman Suitcase): long ago in the 80s – while browsing through the Porta Portese market in Rome, the photographer discovered a mysterious suitcase containing hundreds of negatives, vintage magazines, a lamp and a light meter. While examining the films, Mencarini discovered that there were snapshots of actors, writers, artists and politicians from the 50s and 60s. This incredible photographic archive just happened to fall into the hands of the photographer among many hasty and distracted passers-by. From that moment onwards, the suitcase has never left Mencarini’s side, and he has protected its contents with much love and care up to the present day.
Unveiled last July, Bulgari’s DomvsAvrea museum space continues to narrate the Brand’s identity, as well as stories, trends and customs through the splendor of unique creations.
