48354 - STORIA E TECNICA DELLA FOTOGRAFIA -

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide a basic knowledge of the history of photography as a cultural practice and as a tool for the documentation and study of cultural heritage. The course includes a historical part related to the evolution of techniques, languages and social uses of photography from the origins to the end of the twentieth century. There also will be a practical part, related to the knowledge of the evolutionary phases of photographic documentation of cultural heritage from the 19th century to today, to current legislation, to cataloguing techniques and related methodologies. This part of the course is expected to take place through laboratory exercises. At the end of the course the student will be able to know the evolutionary lines of the history of photography; he will have acquired a basic knowledge of techniques and methodologies for the conservation, the cataloguing and the management of the historical photographic heritage, as well as the uses of photography for the documentation of cultural heritage

Course contents

The first part of the course (corresponding to two thirds of the hours) will deal with a first phase of the development of photographic techniques, starting from the origins, with particular attention to materials and procedures, especially in the initial period, characterized by a still poor standardization, as well as the problem of the evolution and effective diffusion of photographic equipment and reproductions.

Then the theme of the role of photography in the history of contemporary culture will be addressed, first of all briefly dealing with the critical theoretical debate on photography, then with the relationships and intertwining with a series of cultural and scientific fields, its applications and derivations, its growing development and the changes that have occurred over time in its function in the social and cultural context..

Finally, specific attention will be dedicated to audiovisuals, first of all to the birth of cinema, with prevailing attention to the technical aspects, up to the introduction of sound and color, to the social and cultural aspects connected to its first diffusion; some lessons will also be dedicated to the history of radio, television and recent information technologies.

The second part of the course (about one third of the hours) will be dedicated in the current academic year to the monographic theme "photography of cultural heritage in Italy from its origins to the end of the twentieth century" ».

During the course, and in parallel with it, compatibly with the accessibility conditions of the Frame-Lab laboratory of the Department of Cultural Heritage, some laboratory exercises will be held, aimed at acquiring a practical knowledge of the main operations and procedures for cataloging and digitizing the photographic and audiovisual material, as well as the use of photographic equipment for the documentation of cultural heritage.

Readings/Bibliography

A) Textbooks:

J.C. Lemagny, A. Rouillé, Storia della fotografia, Firenze. Sansoni, 1989;

I. Zannier Storia e tecnica della fotografia, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1984;

B) Works on the history, theory and methodology of photography and audiovisuals:

W. Benjamin, L'opera d'arte nell'epoca della sua riproducibilità tecnica, Torino, Einaudi, 1974

R. Barthes, La camera chiara, Torino, Einaudi, 1981

Francesca Anania, Breve storia della radio e della televisione italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2004

S. Sontag, Sulla fotografia. Realtà e immagine nella nostra società, Torino, Einaudi, 1978;

P. Sorlin, I figli di Nadar. Il "secolo" dell'immagine analogica, Torino, Einaudi, 2001.

G. Freund, Fotografia e, società: riflessione teorica ed esperienza pratica d'una allieva di Adorno, Torino, Einaudi, 1976;

I. Zannier - P. Costantini, Cultura fotografica in Italia : antologia dì testi sulla fotografia (1839-1949), Milano, Angeli, 1985.

P. Costantini, «La fotografia artistica» 1904-1917: visione italiana e modernità, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1990;

R. Krauss, Teoria e storia della fotografia. Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 1996

E. Grazioli, II corpo umano nella fotografia, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 1996

C. Marra, Fotografia e pittura nel Novecento. Una storia senza "combattimento", Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 1996;

Un volume a scelta dell'opera: G. De Luna, G. D'Autilia e L. Crescenti (a cura di), L'Italia del Novecento. Le fotografie e la storia, Torino, Einaudi, 2005 - , 3 voll.

F. Faeta, Fotografi e fotografie. Uno sguardo antropologico, Milano, Angeli, 2006

G. Fiorentino, L'Ottocento fatto immagine. Dalla fotografia al cinema, origini della comunicazione di massa, Palermo, Sellerio, 2007

M. Miraglia, Specchio che l'occulto rivela. Ideologie e schemi rappresentativi della fotografia fra Ottocento e Novecento, Milano, Angeli, 2011.

R. Biscioni, Rovine di guerra. distruzioni, rappresentazioni e memorie fotografiche del patrimonio culturale italiano durante la prima guerra mondiale, Pisa, Pacini, 2021.

 

C) Works on the conservation and cataloging of photography and audiovisuals

La fotografia. Manuale di catalogazione a cura di Giuseppina Benassati, Bologna, Grafis Edizioni, 1990;

R. Scaramella, Fotografia: storia e riconoscimento dei processi fotografici. Roma, 1999;

I. Zannier, D. Tartaglia, La fotografia in archivio, Milano, Sansoni, 2000;

S. Berselli, L. Gasparini, L'archivio fotografico. Manuale per la conservazione e la gestione della fotografia antica e moderna, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2000;

S.Lusini, (a cura di) La cultura fotografica in Italia oggi, Prato, Archivio fotografico toscano, 2007.

D) Works related to the monographic part of the course:

M. Miraglia, Specchio che l'occulto rivela. Ideologie e schemi rappresentativi della fotografia fra Ottocento e Novecento, Milano, Angeli, 2011.

R. Biscioni, Rovine di guerra. distruzioni, rappresentazioni e memorie fotografiche del patrimonio culturale italiano durante la prima guerra mondiale, Pisa, Pacini, 2021.

A. C. Quintavalle, M. Maffioli (a cura di), Fratelli Alinari fotografi in Firenze. 150 anni che illustrarono il mondo 1852-2002, Firenze, Alinari, 2003, pp. 147-238

Teaching methods

Teaching methodology includes a series of introductory lessons led by the teacher; an exercise on some of the catalogs of the photographers and publishers for a practical study of the issues relating to the history of photographic documentation of cultural heritage; if it is possible to access the laboratories, some laboratory exercises, aimed at acquiring a practical knowledge of the main operations and procedures for cataloging and digitizing photographic and audiovisual material, as well as the use of photographic equipment for the documentation of cultural heritage will be conduct at the Frame-Lab Department of Cultural Heritage).

Assessment methods

For attending students:

Verification will take place through a final oral exam for the part relating to the actual course; through the presentation and discussion of the results of the exercises with regard to any part of the course conducted in the laboratory.

The preparation will focus on the lessons held by the teacher, as well as on laboratory exercises, but as a reference the student must bring a manual (among those indicated in point A) of the basic bibliography); a work chosen from among those indicated by the teacher in reference to point B) of the basic bibliography (theoretical and methodological works); a work chosen from those in point D)

For non-attending students:

The exam will be taken through an oral test, in which the candidate will be presented with a manual chosen from those proposed in section A) of the basic bibliography (see the "texts" section); a monographic work of your choice for section B) of the bibliography, a work of your choice from section C) of the bibliography, a work of your choice among those in section D) of the bibliography.

Teaching tools

The tools and equipment available at the Frame Lab of the Department of Cultural Heritage (via degli Ariani, 1) will be used

Office hours

See the website of Luigi Tomassini