The Spice Route by Alex Webb
3 June 2015
«Photographing in the streets of Kerala, I remembered seeing turmeric’s deep yellow floating past as a shimmering shawl—and, turning the corner, encountering the delight of a red chili-colored head scarf». Alex Webb
Camera presents a dialogue between photographer Alex Webb, from the Magnum Photos Agency, and Mario Calabresi, Director of the newspaper La Stampa. The author will present a screen projection and discuss his exhibition project ‘The Spice Route’, carried out specifically for the World of Spices Cluster of the World Exposition Milano 2015, focused on the theme ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’.
The talk will take place at the Agorà space, which has reached, after Milan, Piazza Castello in Turin: a multifunctional place where to discuss the themes of the World Exposition in great depth. Within the same context, CAMERA will stage ‘Art/Food’: workshops for children aimed at studying photography through the theme of food, the focal point of the event, from 3–5 and 15–19 June respectively.
Alex Webb carried out the photographic project ‘The Spice Route’ on a journey across India, more specifically in the Kerala Territory. He visited cities, festivals, plantations and spice markets – such as that of Delhi, the largest in the world – in order to discover the colours, perfumes and flavours of the local spices, fundamental to the country’s food, medical and cosmetic fields; a sensorial experience that draws a lively photographic portrait of the Indian spice culture.
Alex Webb
Best known for his vibrant and complex color work, especially from Latin America and the Caribbean, Alex Webb has published 11 books, including The Suffering of Light, a collection of 30 years of his color work, and most recently Memory City (with Rebecca Norris Webb). Alex has exhibited at museums worldwide including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y., and the Guggenheim Museum, N.Y. Webb became a full member of Magnum Photos in 1979. His work has appeared in National Geographic, the New York Times Magazine, Geo, and other magazines. He has received numerous awards and grants including a Hasselblad Foundation Grant in 1998 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2007.