Exhibitions
Presentations & conferences
Foto Forum Festival - 200 Years of Women Photographers (conference)
As part of the Foto Forum Festival, art historian and curator Walter Guadagnini presents a lecture on the history of women photographers, from the nineteenth century to the present day. The event is moderated by Sabine Gamper and will be held in Italian.
"This little activity will surely please the ladies" – with this quote by Louis Daguerre, the lecture opens a critical examination of the role of women in the history of photography. Through a series of concrete examples, it traces the key milestones: from pioneers such as Anna Atkins, Julia Margaret Cameron, the Countess of Castiglione, and Frances Benjamin Johnston, through the major figures of photojournalism and documentary photography – Gerda Taro, Dorothea Lange, Lee Miller – to the avant-gardes with Claude Cahun and Lucia Moholy-Nagy.
The lecture also addresses the Magnum case and the structural invisibility of women photographers within prestigious institutions. A further focus is placed on the revolution of the body in feminist art photography from the 1970s to the 2000s, with works by Francesca Woodman, Ana Mendieta, VALIE EXPORT, Barbara Kruger, and Cindy Sherman. The closing section reflects on the contemporary rereading of this history through archival research and critical practice.
Walter Guadagnini served as Artistic Director of "Fotografia Europea" in Reggio Emilia until 2025 and is Artistic Director of "Exposed – Torino Photo Festival" from 2026.
The Foto Forum Festival runs from 10 May to 27 June 2026 in Bolzano, with a programme of talks, workshops, and encounters exploring photography from historical, conceptual, and social perspectives.
"This little activity will surely please the ladies" – with this quote by Louis Daguerre, the lecture opens a critical examination of the role of women in the history of photography. Through a series of concrete examples, it traces the key milestones: from pioneers such as Anna Atkins, Julia Margaret Cameron, the Countess of Castiglione, and Frances Benjamin Johnston, through the major figures of photojournalism and documentary photography – Gerda Taro, Dorothea Lange, Lee Miller – to the avant-gardes with Claude Cahun and Lucia Moholy-Nagy.
The lecture also addresses the Magnum case and the structural invisibility of women photographers within prestigious institutions. A further focus is placed on the revolution of the body in feminist art photography from the 1970s to the 2000s, with works by Francesca Woodman, Ana Mendieta, VALIE EXPORT, Barbara Kruger, and Cindy Sherman. The closing section reflects on the contemporary rereading of this history through archival research and critical practice.
Walter Guadagnini served as Artistic Director of "Fotografia Europea" in Reggio Emilia until 2025 and is Artistic Director of "Exposed – Torino Photo Festival" from 2026.
The Foto Forum Festival runs from 10 May to 27 June 2026 in Bolzano, with a programme of talks, workshops, and encounters exploring photography from historical, conceptual, and social perspectives.
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