The first major retrospective exhibition dedicated to Franco Fontana.
In Rome, the Ara Pacis Museum is hosting FRANCO FONTANA. Retrospective until August 31, 2025. This unique and engaging exhibition showcases the creative universe of one of the most renowned contemporary Italian photographers, who revolutionized the language of color photography.
The exhibit includes installations, video footage, and over 200 images.
“Photography is not what we see; it is what we are”.
Franco Fontana
The Exhibition Project
Curated by Jean-Luc Monterosso, FRANCO FONTANA. Retrospective celebrates the artistic career of Franco Fontana, born in Modena in 1933. Fontana successfully explored various photographic genres, becoming a pioneer of color photography in the predominantly black-and-white photographic world of the 1960s.
The Exhibition
The exhibition offers visitors an extraordinary journey through the unique vision of the eclectic Modenese photographer, who transforms reality into visual poetry. Through immersive spaces, video footage, installations, and over 200 color photographs, the exhibition retraces Fontana’s artistic evolution. From slides to Polaroids and digital photography, Fontana experiments with the infinite optical possibilities of photography—bold framings, shallow depth of field, aerial perspectives, and more. Skylines, architectures, and rural, industrial, or urban landscapes are represented in abstract and minimalist images, characterized by sharp lines, geometric shapes, and vibrant, contrasting colors.
“Photography is the photographer, and I photograph what I think, not what I see”.
Franco Fontana
The exhibition route
The exhibition begins with a large portrait of Franco Fontana by Giovanni Gastel, alongside an evocative wide-angle photograph of Prague, taken in 1967 and featured on the covers of Time Life and the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine. Following this, a selection of natural and urban landscapes leads to key works of color photography from the 1960s and 1970s. One section focuses on the idea that “Photography is not what we see; it is what we are.”
The exhibition continues with a series of natural landscapes, culminating in the famous Puglia 1978 image, where the intense blue sky contrasts with the golden yellow of wheat fields. The journey then transitions to urban landscapes, including works from Los Angeles in 1979, such as the stunning Los Angeles 1990. Here, Fontana explores the sensuality of feminine forms through photographs taken in swimming pools. The section also features “metaphysical” environments and previously unseen works from France and Asia, capturing people in urban contexts like Paris 1994 and Tokyo 1983.
The exhibition includes a reproduction of Fontana’s studio, a selection of hyper-realistic works, and rare Polaroids and Polaroid transfers used as “visual notes” during his reportage. In the following section, several works focus on highways, asphalt, and cars, such as Asphalt 1990. A video book on Route 66, the road to Compostela, and the Via Appia highlights the significance of roads in Fontana’s work. The route also features a self-portrait of the photographer, his biography, and a selection of female nudes. The final section showcases photographs related to fashion and numerous advertising campaigns.
FRANCO FONTANA. Retrospective
till 31 August 2025
Ara Pacis Museum
Via di Ripetta n. 180
Opening Times:
Everyday 9.30am-7.30pm
