STRAND (Paul) - ZAVATTINI (Cesare). - Lot 279

STRAND (Paul) - ZAVATTINI (Cesare). Un Paese. Portrait of an Italian Village. New York, Aperture, 1997. Folio, hardcover with the publisher’s illustrated dust jacket. English reissue of the legendary *Un Paese*, one of the most important photography books of the 20th century, originally published in Italy in 1955. It brings together photographs by Paul Strand and text by Cesare Zavattini, a leading figure of Italian neorealism and screenwriter for Vittorio De Sica (*Bicycle Thief*, *Umberto D.*). Between 1953 and 1954, Strand stayed in Luzzara, Zavattini’s hometown, in the Po Valley. Far from any picturesque vision, he crafts a portrait of rare human intensity: farmers, artisans, families, facades, streets, and everyday objects become the silent witnesses of a community whose life seems suspended outside of time. Zavattini’s texts, blending narratives, memories, and testimonies from the residents, extend this sensitive chronicle of a vanishing rural world. This edition by Aperture, featuring new reproductions made directly from Strand’s original prints, captures the full richness of the tones and the monumental scale of the images. With a foreword by John Berger, it remains the best currently available edition of this work, which has become an absolute classic in the history of the photobook. A very fine copy, preserved in its original illustrated dust jacket.