Legendary photojournalist but also American filmmaker, author with her husband Morris Engel of the independent feature film Little Fugitive, awarded with the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1953, Ruth Orkin (1921-1985) is one of the leading figures in 20th century’s photography. 

Realized by Civic Museums of Bassano del Grappa in collaboration with diChroma Photography, the exhibition Ruth Orkin. Legend of photography wants to celebrate the work of this pioneer of photojournalism on the centenary of her birth. After Bassano del Grappa the anthological exhibition will begin a European tour and is expected in San Sebastian, Spain, and Cascais, Portugal.

Over 110 of the most famous photographs of her career - from VE-Day to Jimmy tells a story, from American Girl in Italy to the portraits of Robert Capa, Marlon Brando and Woody Allen - testify Orkin’s talent for capturing, with her camera, powerfully iconic situations and knowing how to make these images the elements of a strongly evocative narration. Whether it is single shots or works composed by sequences of frames, portraits or urban landscapes, be they of New York, Rome or Venice, every photograph by Ruth Orkin has the strength of a story in which places and people are reflected in each other.