Disco To Disco

Dance so strongly signals freedom that at the end of the Second World War, American soldiers immediately transformed the big warehouse of Campo San Fantin in Venice into a disco, and celebrated the end of conflict by dancing all night long. In his "Dancing Emilia" series, Gabriele Basilico--who is well known for his Becher-esque photographs of the urban landscape--looked at the changing face of Italians in the late 70s through their dancing habits. Two decades years later, Massimo Vitali, who had previously been focused on large-scale overviews of crowded Italian beaches, also trained his lens on dancers. Gathered together for the first time, this collection is not only an intriguing survey of key works from these two important photographers, but an engrossing social history on how Italians get down--from the bellbottoms and silk shirts at 70s discos to the sweaty masses at 90s raves.