Italia Mia: Photographs by Gina Lollobrigida

by Gina Lollobrigida, Alberto Moravia (Foreword)

Photography Education

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction

191 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1983

About the author

Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida OMRI was an Italian actress, photojournalist, and politician. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s, a period in which she was an international sex symbol. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Jamie Jonas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A splash of Italy, as orchestrated by a famous Italian. Of the three countries I managed to see on my some-time-ago trip to Europe, Italy was by far my favorite. Of all the Italian celebrities, Gina Lollobrigida has always been--well, you see where that's going. To have a street-level view of this astounding country through the lens of a spectacular woman like 'la Lollo,' who is not only actress but a photographer, an artist and a singer . . . this literary trip was inevitable.

Truth be told, I didn't like the book without reservation. Some individual photographs seem a little too makeshift, some a little too grainy, etc. I'm one who loves crystalline images more than impressionistic work. However, as a whole I pronounce Lollobrigida's work a great success--charming, sad, disturbing and elevating, all at once. Because, of course, such is her country--a patchwork of vices and virtues, glories and eyesores. As, I guess, are ALL our countries, in the end.

[Mohammed Galal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvelous collection of pictures of the Italians.Along with the Greeks, the Italians are an epitome of "la joie de vivre."The photographer could brilliantly select her locations ,I liked the expressions of the average Italians.Some children are blissfully indifferent whereas the elderly suffer an unbearable solitude in Florence,the great city.The Italy of Gina Lollobrigida isnt the the that of Dante,Bernini,or Donatello.It s another Italy;a country of so many children and so many old people as well.It s a country of contradictions where some are about to start a new life(by getting married)whereas others attempt to end theirs(through committing suicide)."Some of our experiences will remain pictures only in our minds."So true.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my uncles had given this book to my Grandfather. Not sure why…since my Grandfather went to Italy every year to visit relatives. I wish I had thought to ask him what his village looked like.

I’d like to think that Gina’s visual interpretation was what my grandfather had seen.