Angelo Frontoni: the Mediterranean

The National Cinema Museum and the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Cineteca Nazionale present an exhibit dedicated to Angelo Frontoni, a famous portrait photographer who was a master at valorizing the allure and beauty of divas. He frequented the sets for short periods of time, usually to shoot photo services for newspapers and magazines and his colleagues didn’t consider him a set photographer in the strictest sense of the term.
The approximately seventy images are on loan from the archives of the great Italian reporter, who was known as the “photographer of the stars.” The archives were jointly bought in 2005 by the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia-Cineteca Nazionale and the National Cinema Museum and the photographs are featured at the Museum in two different sections.

Capri 1963: Contempt. Inside the Mole Antonelliana, in the Temple Hall, 37 large-format photographs illustrate the set of the film Il disprezzo, which Jean-Luc Godard directed on the island of Capri in 1963. In these shots Frontoni shows his ability to visually narrate the atmosphere on the set and its stars in an unconventional way. In his particular style, Frontoni concentrates his attention more on the film’s direction than on the film itself, as can be seen by the photos of Jean-Luc Godard intent on directing his actors, studying the composition of a shot or working with his director of photography, Raoul Coutard. In his representation of the dynamic mood on the set, Frontoni often prefers medium-long shots to close-ups. Besides the director, the actors and the troupe, he also takes photos of the movie cameras and the dollies. The photographer observes the set, the stars of the film, the troupe at work; he studies the landscape, plays with the geometry of the architectural elements, defines the color contrast, establishes the lighting, chooses the right angle. In other words, he, too, is a director who imposes his own point of view and his personal idea of the mise-en-scène.

Bathing beauties. 30 large-size photographs, exhibited on the outdoor railings of the Mole Antonelliana, immortalize divas in bathing suits; images of great allure thanks to a seductive play of shadows. The female physique and beauty are exalted by the lens of the photographer, who manages to transform even the most anonymous starlet into an icon to be admired and imitated. His talent went beyond simple technical ability: Frontoni’s shots reveal an atmosphere of complicity and flattery that attract the spectator. This expressive ability emerges strongly in the photographs in which the poses of the actresses and starlets and their tempting, flirty and sometimes ironical expressions still today exert great seductive power. The exhibit also features a slipcase containing the two catalogs.

The exhibit is available to be set up in other locations.