The Grit and Glamour of 1970s Rome

ROME 1970s by Stephan Brigidi published by Daylight Books documents daily life in Italy throughout one of the most tumultuous decades in the modern-day history of Rome. Stephan Brigidi has been traveling and working in Italy for over 40 years. During the 1970s, Brigidi experienced first hand the way tensions were unfolding, and writes: “I think of the 1970s as a turning point in Italian life. The social climate was in motion, unpredictable. This was a different kind of unrest, lacking any kind of compass or clear path. An uncertainty challenged the grand Roman resilience of surviving and rolling with the times. The natural optimism inherent in Italian society was threatened. I could see it in the eyes of the people I passed each day on the streets. Within the old Ghetto quarter, my home, I sensed a changing tempo.”

Brigidi observed the social life around him and recorded the complexities surrounding Rome during a time there was a loss of hope for a better future. The book showcases a variety of scenarios from a chaotic market scene and vibrant political posters, to an instance where Brigidi had an interaction with a mother and child who pass him on the street as the woman stretches out her hand to him for alms, and many more.

This collection of portraits taken in the interiors of homes and raw candid exteriors of Roman life encapsulates the range of socioeconomic classes and juxtapose the living conditions in Rome throughout this period of time.

For more information on Stephan Brigidi: click here

For more information on the book: click here