Exhibition - Roma Codex

May, 29 2025 - august, 3 2025
Albert Watson
Palazzo Esposizioni Roma

We are proud to present Roma Codex, an original project conceived by Studio FP and promoted by the Assessorato alla Cultura di Roma Capitale and Azienda Speciale Palaexpo, produced and organized by Azienda Speciale Palaexpo with Studio FP, the exhibition - curated by Clara Tosi Pamphili – provides a compelling photographic exploration of Rome defying visual and aesthetics stereotypes.

The New York photographer Albert Watson challenges conventional representations of Rome,
mapping a contemporary anthropological narrative of the city and its most authentic essence.

Living Rome

Albert Watson spent two years wandering through Rome without a predetermined itinerary. Fueled by the city’s pulse and capturing it essence in the faces, architectural landmarks and movements, the photographer has grasped its most authentic spirit in photography artworks that spotlight the interplay between its historic grandeur and everyday vitality.

“I didn’t want to observe Rome with preconceived ideas or under the pressure of capturing what people might expect to see. The city overflows with history, but I was interested in what happens between the monuments — in the energy of the streets, in the faces, in the movement. I photographed instinctively, moving from dance schools to underground clubs, from artist studios to late-night cafés. Some moments were planned, but many were shaped by chance. That’s the magic of Rome: it reveals itself, layer by layer, to those who take the time to look.”

Albert Watson

A Few Words About Albert Watson

Albert Watson is one of the most influential and recognizable photographers of the past 50 years. Since the 1970s, he has created iconic images by blending art, fashion, and commercial photography.

His portraits of Alfred Hitchcock, Steve Jobs, and Kate Moss, as well as his landscapes of Las Vegas and still lifes dedicated to Tutankhamun, are part of the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Getty Museum, the Smithsonian,
and the National Portrait Gallery.
He has been awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal Photographic Society.

His photographs have appeared on over 100 covers of Vogue, and in campaigns for Chanel, Prada, Levi’s, and Gap, as well as on film posters for Kill Bill and Memoirs of a Geisha.

Featured Photographs

The exhibition is also an homage to the human fabric of the city. Among the personalities portrayed are Paolo Sorrentino, Valeria Golino, Luca Bigazzi, Luca Zingaretti, Isabella Ferrari, Benedetta Porcaroli, Riccardo Scamarcio, Celeste Della Porta, Kasia Smutniak, Saul Nanni, Pierfrancesco Favino, Toni Servillo, Roberto Bolle, Eleonora Abbagnato, Alda Fendi, architects Massimiliano Fuksas & Doriana Mandrelli, Cardinale Silvano Maria Tomasi, Gran Maestro dell’Ordine di Malta, Maestro Giancarlo Giammetti, Elisabetta Benassi.

First Glimpses: Rome Welcomes the Exhibition

Tracing a portrait of Rome’s contemporary cultural landscape at the intersection of historic weight and
the modern boundary-pushing energy, Albert Watson resisted the obvious.
“Rome codex – One City, Three States,” is a layered atlas of the ebullient spirit permeating the city,
a place in perpetual motion and evolution since its early days, a crossroad of cultures and different worlds.

200 photographs, a city to decipher

The exhibit showcases 200 large-scale, black-and-white and color images mounted in the first three halls of Palazzo Esposizioni Roma.
Images are arranged instinctively rather than in thematic order, to match the free and contemporary way of engaging with art.
In the vast exhibition space, intimate and candid human moments are juxtaposed to the city’s vast architectural and historical weight,
creating a dynamic interplay between the city and those who inhabit and shape it.
Albert Watson levels all hierarchies: a portrait, a landscape, an interior, an unknown
face or a celebrity all command equal narrative intensity.
“Rome codex – One City, Three States” provides observers with an instinctive yet meticulous compass
for decoding a city layered with contradictions.

A Rome Codex

Publisher : Palazzo delle Esposizioni
Print length ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
Dimensions : 30 x 25.4 x 30 cm

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