The exhibition brings together photographs, documentary films and reportages, offering insight into five decades of international reporting. Since the 1950s, Deffarge and Troeller have documented social injustice, political crises and wars in over 55 countries, from Italy and Iran to Yemen and Brazil. Their work combines photographic and film reportage with a strong critical stance toward capitalist perspectives, patriarchal structures and colonial legacies, often employing a subjective and controversial documentary style.

After early work in West Asia and the book Persia Without a Mask, the duo worked for the German weekly magazine Stern—known for its coverage of political and social issues—from 1959 to 1969. They gained particular recognition with their 12-part series Women of the World. From the mid-1960s onward, they also produced documentary films and became widely known in German-speaking countries through collaborations with Radio Bremen—a regional public broadcast for the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, Germany. Series such as In the Name of Progress, Women of the World and Children of the World reached large prime time audiences until 1999.

The exhibition highlights their collaborative working methods and incorporates perspectives from the countries they have portrayed, thanks to the photographic estate at Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany and the film collections of the Centre national de l’audiovisuel (CNA), Luxembourg as well as loans from Ingrid Becker-Ross.

Curation: Petra Steinhardt, Catherine Richard, Matthias Pfaller, Clara Bolin, Thomas Seelig, Giulia Cramm Exhibition co-produced by the Rencontres d’Arles, Museum Folkwang, Essen and Centre national de l’audiovisuel (CNA), Luxembourg.