Umberto Pizzi: farewell to the photographer of *Cafonal* and *La Dolce Vita*
He was the last of the ‘Dolce Vita’ paparazzi, a war correspondent and the secret eye on the world of politics and Rome’s high society salons
A piece of the history of Italian film stardom and political voyeurism has passed away: Umberto Pizzi, the photographer behind *Cafonal* and *La Dolce Vita*, has died at the age of 88.
Born in Zagarolo (Rome) in 1937, he was not only the last of the ‘Dolce Vita’ paparazzi, but also a war correspondent and a secret observer of politics and Roman high society from the First to the Second Republic, as documented in Cafonal by Dagospia.
He became a photojournalist in 1963 and worked for FAQ in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria and Jordan.
In the 1960s, as a photojournalist, he worked with the international publications *Time*, *People Magazine* and *Sunday Express Magazine*, capturing the stars of ‘Hollywood on the Tiber’ – from Marcello Mastroianni to Vittorio Gassman, from Eduardo De Filippo to Roberto Rossellini, right through to Elizabeth Taylor, whom he photographed with her baby bump, and Richard Burton. It was the heyday of Via Veneto, of the grand hotels frequented by actors, directors and international celebrities.
Pizzi follows celebrities around with his camera and learns to capture images beyond the official pose, such as Woody Allen caught unawares with Mia Farrow in black and white. His approach was to avoid portraits and instead try to capture his subjects in a facial expression that revealed their personality or in a moment of difficulty.
