The exhibit presents works of Elizabetta Catalano, a famous Italian photographer (1941 – 2015) created from 1964 until 2004: photos made during shooting legendary films and rehearsals of milestone theatre performances, portraits of the world movie industry faces, great film directors, writers and artists, performance photos. 

Catalano works is the view from the inside at the fascinatingly interesting events that occurred in the Italian art and culture throughout forty years, precious testimonials of the retiring epoch. Elizabetta was a part of the world she told about in her creativity. She knew characters of her photos, she made friends and worked with many of them. The models trusted the artist; due to this, we can enjoy photos of Federico Fellini, Franco Zeffirelli, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Rudolf Nureyev, Charlotte Rampling, Andy Warhol, Alberto Giacometti, Joseph Kosuth, Fabio Mauri, Umberto Eco, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Philip Glass and many others in the casual atmosphere – the way they were in a circle of friends and fellow thinkers. 

Elizabetta Catalano used to live and work in Rome. Her debut as a photographer took place during the shooting of the famous film of Federico Fellini, «8 ½», in which she played the role of sister of Anouk Aimée, and during the off-shooting time she started making photos. Photos made by Catalano greatly impressed Fellini. So he later used to invite her at the shooting of his films as photographer. Besides, the great film maker repeatedly sat for Elizabetta in her studio, and used some of the photos for front covers of his books. 

Career of the young photographer developed very successfully. Catalano worked with influential international fashion magazines such as Vogue, Il Mondo, L'Expresso and others. She had a chance to work with many outstanding artists: Fabio Mauri, Joseph Beuys, Joseph Kosuth, Francesco Clemente, Franco Angeli, Carla Accardi, Mario Merz, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vettor Pisani and many others. 

Curator: Laura Cerubini

The project is provided by the Archive of Elizabetta Catalano

Organizer: Multimedia Art Museum (Moscow)

With support of Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Moscow