Eye for style on show

Photo provided to China Daily

A retrospective of Italian photographer Alfa Castaldi (1926-95), Poet Behind the Lens, presents a wide range of Castaldi's

images he captured around the world.

Spontaneous, honest and candid, they reveal the photographer's fascination with beauty.

Through his lens we see the evolution of fashion sector in Italy, portraits of various people through the times, reportage of day-to-day life and his lifelong devotion to explore photography techniques as a way of reporting.

Highlights include the photographs he took when he put garments of Walter Albini, Ken Scott, Krizia and Jean-Baptiste Caumont on the streets of Prague in 1968, which soon became a new style of reporting the fashion sector. His innovative approach to review history and fashion made a huge impact at that time.

In 1980, fashion brands were booming and the business was hot - another golden time for fashion photographers. However, Castaldi decided to close his studio and focus on another art form.