Masterworks of industrial photography

Industrial Worlds 014: The new exhibition presents new images from the collection of such artists as: Margaret Bourke-White, Bill Brant, Robert Doisneau, Walker Evans, Harry Gruyaert, Lewis Wickes Hine, W. Eugene Smith, Andreas Gursky, Stéphane Couturier, Doug Menuez, Toni Schneiders, Toshio Shibata, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Simon Norfolk, Lee Friedlander, Peter Keetman, Timm Rautert, Walter Vogel, in addition to a work composed of 53 photographs by Lewis Baltz and Naoya Hatakeyama, one of the leading artists on the contemporary Japanese art scene, with Maquette/Lights (backlit photos) exhibited for the first time in Italy. The MAST Collection of Photography on Industry and Labour is the first of its kind in the world, and is growing continually with new acquisitions, some of which were presented in the first show in 2014. The exhibit is divided into five thematic sections, and is curated, along with the exhibition space, by Urs Stahel: 1. WORK, WORKER: a portrait of the labourer and the image of the industrial landscape are presented as they change over the course of time, from the beginning of the twentieth century to present day. 2. INDUSTRIAL AREA, INDUSTRIAL PLANT: the theatre of industrial production is discussed through pairs of contrasting images: "The past and today." 3. LIGHT AND SHADE: the black, fiery, dark factory of the past, overflowing with workers and the white, sterile, bright and empty pavilions of today. 4. VISIBILITY/INVISIBILITY: the contrast between the early massive heavy machinery, and its visibly comprehensible processes, and the mute, enigmatic, aseptic modern production tools. 5. FLOW OF ENERGY, FLOW OF TRAFFIC, FLOW OF DATA: no industrial production process can do without energy, transport, handling of raw materials, semi-finished and finished goods, and now data and communication flows between man, machine and equipment--www.mast.org.

The Human Capital in Industries exhibition showcases more than 200 photographic images (commissioned work, socially conscious representations and artistic statements) from the Fondazione MAST collection in an attempt to address the various issues relating to the past and present of industries and labour, industrialists and employees, human resources and human capital. It shows men at work in mines, in the metal and machine industries, in textile mills, building transport routes--roads, railway lines, ships--and generating energy. 19th century work processes are compared with those of the 20th and 21st centuries. Real-life working conditions in the Western world are pitted against the euphoric vision of work in the Soviet Union. Hierarchies--from blue collar to white collar to engineers, executives, management and company owners--are made visually salient. But the photographs on display also address topics such as the commute from home to work and back again, health and safety issues and the concept of (working) time, which was structured once and for all by the forces of industrialisation. Again and again, social progress only came as the result of hard-won battles. Occasionally workers even had to go on strike. Some of the photographers are anonymous, we have no idea who they were, while other images were taken by photographers employed by companies or factories. Finally, some photographers who have since become famous also took on this subject, among them, Margarete Bourke-White, Robert Doisneau, David Goldblatt, Brian Griffin, Jacqueline Hassink, Erich Lessing, Jercy Lewczyński, Ugo Mulas, Jorge Ribalta, August Sander, Josef Sudek, Larry Sultan/Mike Mandel, Jakob Tuggener, and many others--www.mast.org.