From March 5 to July 19, 2026, Palazzo Pallavicini in Bologna hosts a retrospective dedicated to Ruth Orkin (1921-1985), an American photojournalist, photographer, and director, among the most significant of the 20th century.

The exhibition, curated by Anne Morin, organized by Pallavicini srl by Chiara Campagnoli, Deborah Petroni, and Rubens Fogacci with the coordination of texts by Francesca Bogliolo, in collaboration with diChroma photography, sponsored by the Municipality of Bologna, by FIAF Italian Federation of Photographic Associations and AIRF Italian Association of Reporters Photographers, presents 187 photographs, two cameras, and some important documents, which trace the trajectory of one of the most important personalities in 20th-century photography and consider her crucial role in the history of this expressive genre.

For Ruth Orkin, visual storytelling is constructed through a dynamic succession of images, a characteristic found in the fascinating series Road Movie, created in 1939 during the bicycle trip from Los Angeles to New York.

The influence of cinema is equally evident in the series From Above, in which Orkin observes and captures daily life from the window, turning the street into a spontaneous stage. The subjects, unaware of their role, become protagonists of a narrative punctuated by alternations of movement and stillness, giving the story a magnetic fluidity. Equally captivating for the gaze are the portraits of famous personalities such as Albert Einstein, Marlon Brando, Robert Capa, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles: images that emblematically show her ability to narrate people and environments with great immediacy and expressive effectiveness.

Today, the work of Ruth Orkin, recognized as one of the most important photojournalists of the 20th century, is rediscovered and reinterpreted in light of a new critical perspective, restoring full relevance and value to a production that has marked the history of photography.