Brancolini Grimaldi Arte Contemporanea, Rome presents the American photographer Mitch Epstein, with a selection of photographs from the series Recreation: American Photographs 1973-1988 (Steidl 2005). Recreation documents the trip of a young Mitch Epstein through the United States, a documentary about life and contradictions of America in the 70s and 80s, inquiring ironically and nostalgically into the rituals and life of the country. Good times, a time of freedom and optimism when it was possible to seek pleasure "before pleasure was commodified". An America where we don't find cheerleaders, malls, fat ladies and super-sized hotdogs; Epstein's world is quiet and natural. Hippie girls abandoning a baby to fondle a snake, children sleeping on a car in an open campground, scenes from leisure of a distant, bored but beautiful America. Motel swimming pools, airport waiting rooms, national parks and state fairs opposite drag queen and kid's parties. Epstein's subjects can be foolish and vain but they're also touchingly human and fragile. Epstein is one of the first American photographers to use colour in new and exciting ways throughout the 70s and into the 80s, taking inspiration from documentary photography. Mitch Epstein's photos are in numerous major international museums including the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His several published books include: Family Business (Steidl, 2003), The City (powerHouse Books, 2001), Vietnam: A Book of Changes (Norton/DoubleTake, 1996), Fire Water Wind (Tenrikyo Doyusha, 1995), and In Pursuit of India (Aperture, 1987). The exhibition will be part of the International Festival of Photography in Rome, promoted by the city of Rome and produced by zoneattive with the artistic direction of Marco Delogu. In September 2006 Epstein's work will be the subject of a large retrospective exhibition, spanning from 1973-2006, at the Die Photographische Sammlung SK Stiftung Kultur in Cologne (28 September 06 - 9 January 07).