In 1956, American photographer William Klein met Italian director Federico Fellini in Paris and was offered a job as his assistant on an upcoming film in Rome. Shooting was delayed, so the 30-year-old Klein spent eight weeks in the Italian city, taking photographs for a new book. He’d already produced one on New York (which, incidentally, Fellini had by his bed, hence his offer of a job to the young photographer) and thought Rome would be a good follow-up.
As he says in the book that resulted: ‘After all, the New York I grew up in was one-third Italian. In school, I hung out with Italian kids and traded vaffanculos [insults] all day long. Also, I soon found out that the Romans reacted to the camera much like New Yorkers. Everyone felt they deserved to be photographed, immortalised. No why or why me.’
This shot of Piazzale Flaminio captures life on the streets at that time, with a cast of characters that Klein obviously delights in. He writes of the scene: ‘Piazzale Flaminio, behind Piazza del Popolo: the course of centuries stops for a red light. The little world of Rome freezes for eternity. From left to right: Commander, back to the camera, large, balding, crosses the street at the corner; substantial brunette of a certain age, white dress, pocketbook, and shoes to match, tarries with cynical charmer, white suit, black shoes; Don Juan: half Sordi, half Fabrizi, the perfect combination; impenetrable conquistador on a Vespa; young fusto (handsome lower-class devil) energetically awaits trolley; couple on Vespa wait for the green light.’
Klein studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and initially had ambitions to be a painter. He would be taught by Fernand Léger. Once he had taken up photography, he achieved success quickly and shot for US Vogue. He is considered to be a hugely influential figure in photography and, according to The New York Times, ‘among the fathers of street photography’. In 2012, Tate Modern in London staged a retrospective of his work. Klein died in Paris in 2022, aged 96.
Red Light and Vespa, Rome, 1956 is available as a gelatin silver print from the Atlas Photography Gallery, atlasgallery.com/artists/william-klein
The book Rome by William Klein is out of print, but second-hand editions are available online
