Farewell to the Homeland, 1954
Gelatin silver print, 2003
signed

In the fifties, Yvan Dalain was one of the most important Swiss photojournalists. Commissioned by Die Woche and other magazines, he brought home reportage from all over the world. In 1970, Dalain ended his career as a photographer to start a new one in film and television, before later becoming a writer. 

 

The selected image is from reportage on Italian emigrants leaving the port of Genoa by ship in 1955 to seek their fortune in South America. This powerful scene combines the drama of a farewell with the dream of a better life and the hope of social advancement on the other side of the Atlantic.