Auden by Avedon, de Beauvoir by Cartier-Bresson, Duras by Doisneau,
Proust by Man Ray, Huxley by Halsman, Apollinaire by Picasso, Arundhati
Roy by Raghu Rai, Raymond Carver by Bob Adelman, Zadie Smith by Eamonn
McCabe . . . Portrait of the Writers is a selection of 250 portraits
of writers carried out by great photographers from the beginning of the
twentieth-century to the present day, chosen by Goffredo Fofi. For each
intense and penetrating image, the text explains the reason for the
choice, recalls the masterpieces of the author, and narrates the story
of the image: of the unique moment of the portrait.
What is clear from this extensive, wide-ranging selection is the immense
skill of the photographers who have observed writers, captured them, and
presented them to history. Curiosity and memories are stimulated as much
by the artists behind the lens as by their distinguished subjects.
Goffredo Fofi, an essayist and a literature, drama, and film critic,
is a preeminent figure in the Italian cultural environment. His
engagement focuses on the relationship between social reality and its
artistic representation. He has contributed to the birth of landmark
journals such as Quaderni Piacentini, La Terra vista dalla Luna,
Ombre rosse, and Linea d'ombra. He is editor of Lo Straniero,
which he founded in 1997, and creator of Lo Straniero Award. Moreover,
Fofi is an editorial advisor and collaborates with Panorama,
Internazionale, and Film TV magazines.
