The portrait is one of the most popular photographic genres. Perhaps the most popular portraits are of famous people, taken by celebrity photographers like Annie Leibovitz and Mario Testino, who serve as modern day “artists of the Court”.

But what to make of the self-portrait? There are photographers who have devoted almost exclusively portraying themselves. This genre of photography rarely leaves us indifferent and often makes quite an impact, as many artists create unreal images or take on surprising alter egos.

Among the photographers whose work was based on self-portraits, was the American photographer Francesca Woodman (1958 -1981).  In her work, her body almost transformed itself into an “object shape” Beginning when she was 13 years old, she began to devote herself to photography, and despite her  early death by suicide, she left us an important and original artistic legacy.

The Palazzo della Ragione in Milan has organized an exhibition that brings together 116 photographs and five videos that lead us to discover Francesca Woodman’s artistic career. The exhibition has been conceived as a journey through various stages that correspond to creative photographic series made where she lived and studied: Boulder (Colorado), Rhode Island, where she attended the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rome and finally New York, a city in which she unsuccessfully tried to join fashion photography circles. Woodman lived in the Italian capital between 1977 and 1978.  There are some self-portraits in which she appears naked, smeared with flour, plaster, paint or other substances. When she was in Rome she organized her first exhibition in Italy.

Francesca Woodman was not portrayed as the main subject and focus of the image, but rather as an integral part of the surrounding environment, natural landscapes or interiors, which she often arranged herself. Her body appears as if it were becoming one with the walls and furniture, or can be seen between walls and doors. One of the recurring features in many photos of Woodman is the absence of the face, which is often cut, hidden or partially obscured.  It is as if she is photographing a ghost.

The exhibition at the Palazzo della Ragione started on 16 July and runs until October 24. It is a cultural project that will not leave lovers of photography and art indifferent. Discover the work of the American photographer, rent apartments in Milan to sink into the world of Francesca Woodman.

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