projects | exhibition
Fotografe! Women Photographers: Alinari Archives to Contemporary Perspectives
This exhibit was conceived as a dialogue between original works of more than forty female photographers in the Alinari Archives and works of ten young Italian women artists. Photographers born in different times, places, and social contexts are brought together to shed light on a number of photographers, many of whom have been ignored, and reflect on today’s artistic practices, beginning with our connection to the past and the importance of memory in a world where societal roles and paradigms are constantly in flux.
The exhibit, which offers up two mirror image itineraries, one in Villa Bardini and the other in Forte Belvedere, offers a revitalized look at the history of photography from its origins to the 20th century and up to current day, enriching it with descriptions of both early photographic techniques and today’s most recent experiments.
Produced and promoted byFondazione CR Firenze and Fondazione Alinari per la Fotografia
In collaboration withComune di Firenze
Fondazione Parchi Monumentali Bardini e Peyron
Mus.E
DonorCalliope Arts
Technical sponsorsUnicoop Firenze
Exhibition curated byEmanuela Sesti and Walter Guadagnini
Fotografe! Villa Bardini
Bernardine Caroline Théodora Hirza Lejeune (LEBA), Woman’s portrait, Brussels, 1855 ca., daguerrotype, image 54x45 mm, plate 108x81 mm, case 150x129x7 mm, Alinari Archives-Unicum collection, Florence
Bertha Wehnert-Beckmann, Young woman’s portrait, Leipzig, 1847 ca., daguerrotype, image 75x60 mm, plate108x81 mm, case 125x111x5 mm, Alinari Archives-Unicum collection, Florence
Eveleen Tennant Myers, Portrait of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, 1890, platinotype, 280x237 mm, Alinari Archives, Florence
Julia Margaret Cameron, "From life", Woman’s portrait, undated, albumen print, 260x205 mm, Alinari Archives- Palazzoli collection, Florence
d'Ora-Arthur Benda, Nude, 1934, gelatin silver print, 205x161 mm, Alinari Archives-Favrod collection, Florence
Wanda Wulz, "Io + gatto", 1932, two silver gelatin negatives on glass, superimposed for superimpression, 125x185 mm, Alinari Archives- Wanda Wulz archive, Florence
Wanda Wulz, "Autoritratto", 1932, stampa alla gelatina ai sali d'argento, 295x235 mm, Archivi Alinari-archivio Studio Wulz, Firenze
Wanda Wulz, "Esercizio", 1932, gelatin silver print, reproduction from Wanda Wulz’s original print elaborated by the artist, 295x210 mm, Alinari Archives-Studio Wulz archive, Florence
Wanda Wulz, "Newa", 1930 ca., gelatin silver print with toning, 232x172 mm, Alinari Archives-Studio Wulz archive, Florence
Marion Wulz, "In guardia" - Irene Camber, 1952, gelatin silver print 294x212 mm, Alinari Archives-Studio Wulz archive, Florence
Marion Wulz, Portrait of Wanda Wulz in Egyptian costume, 1930 ca., Lambda Durst b/w silver gelatin print from silver bromide gelatin negative on glass, 180x130 mm, Alinari Archives-Marion Wulz archive, Florence
Federica Belli, The Moon (Doesn't Sleep Tonight), 2020, Fine Art pigmentar print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag paper, 50×50 cm, ©Federica Belli, Courtesy Galleria Valeria Bella, Milano
Sofia Uslenghi, Homesick #2, 2017, Fine Art pigmentar print, 45×30 cm, ©Sofia Uslenghi, Courtesy Galleria Valeria Bella, Milano
Gertrude Fehr, "Odile", 1936, stampa alla gelatina ai sali d'argento, 252x202 mm, Archivi Alinari-collezione Favrod, Firenze
Marion Post Wolcott, Jorena Pettway selecting peas at her smoke-house, Alabama, May 1939, Farm Security Administration, gelatin silver print, 203x257 mm, Alinari Archives-Palazzoli collection, Florence
Myriam Meloni, Untitled, from the project "Waad / La promessa", 2017-2020, print on Fine Art paper, 70 × 56 cm, ©Myriam Meloni
On display here are singular objects, vintage prints, and albums from the Alinari Archives, works by women artists born in the 1800s and 1900s, some of whom are well-known, such as Julia Margaret Cameron and Margaret Bourke-White, while other are less-known, forgotten, or even anonymous, as is the case with most of the "pioneers" whose rare daguerreotypes open this exhibition.
Particular space has been given to one archive in particular, that of Wanda and Marion Wulz. On show are unseen works by the two sister photographers from Trieste, who started working in the 1920s, as well as Wanda’s famous overprint "Io+gatto", visible for the first time with the two negatives. The entire archive is of extraordinary importance to the history of photography, and this exhibition represents the beginning of a systematic and thorough exploration of it, so that we can one day appreciate their work fully.
Federica Belli, Myriam Meloni, Giulia Parlato, and Sofia Uslenghi - all born in the 1980s and 1990s - engage with the works from the Archive, eliminate some of the gap that exists between the women coming from a distant and complex past and themselves, and consequently initiate a dialogue that is often intimate in nature. As the commonality they discover is often based on difference, the contemporary photographers explore themes that recur elsewhere in the exhibit, such as portraiture or self-portraiture, or the importance of the past, and its role in our lives.
Fotografe! Forte Belvedere
Bettina Rheims, "Rencontre sur une table de direction", Paris, February 2009, digital print, 295x417 mm, Alinari Archives, Florence
Francesca Catastini, Petrus 13, 2018, inkjet print, 70×50 cm, ©Francesca Catastini, Courtesy Podbielski Contemporary, Milano
Alba Zari, Avatar, Make a Human, 2017, Digital print on Hahnemühle Photo gloss Baryta, 50×70 cm, ©Alba Zari
Lisetta Carmi, "Travestiti", 1965-1970, gelatin silver print, 290x230 mm, Alinari Archives -Palazzoli collection, Florence
Roselena Ramistella, from the series "The Healers (Le guaritrici)" 2021, Giclée print on Promed Luster 255 gsm, 43×33 cm ©Roselena Ramistella, Courtesy Studio Trisorio, Napoli
Arianna Arcara, Claudio Majorana, from the series "Ciao vita mia", Alessia and Emiliana, Librino, Catania, Italia, 2018, inkjet Fine Art print on archival Hahnemühle Baryta 315 photo paper, 60 × 48 cm, ©Arianna Arcara e Claudio Majorana
Edith Arnaldi, At Edith’s Villa, Somalia, 1951, Lambda Durst b/w silver gelatin print from silver gelatin cellulose acetate film, 35 mm, Alinari Archives-Edith Arnaldi archive, Florence
Edith Arnaldi, "Andando alla messa", Őrhalom (Hungary), 1937, gelatin silver print, 170x250 mm, Alinari Archives-Edith Arnaldi archive
Edith Arnaldi, Between Piglio and Anticoli Corrado, Ciociaria, 1935, Lambda Durst b/w silver gelatin print from silver gelatin cellulose acetate film, 35 mm, Alinari Archives -Edith Arnaldi archive, Florence
Marina Caneve, dalla serie "A fior di terra", 2021, stampa archival ai pigmenti, 90 × 72 cm, ©Marina Caneve
In this location, the heart of the exhibit is comprised of artworks discovered in the Alinari Archives, including works by fifteen well-known artists of the twentieth century, such as Diane Arbus, Inge Morath, and Bettina Rheims, as well as key figures in the history of Italian photography, such as Lisetta Carmi, Chiara Samugheo, Marialba Russo, and Ketty La Rocca, here represented with a number of photographic artworks.
At the centre of the exhibit is a focus on a surprising collection that is part of the Alinari Archives, that of Edith Arnaldi, a collection that has yet to be explored in depth. Born in Vienna in 1884, and principally known for her writing and work done in the Futurist era under the pseudonym Rosa Rosà, Arnaldi is, for the most part, unknown for her photography. As with the Wulz archive on display at Villa Bardini, this exhibit marks the beginning of detailed research into her work, in order to appreciate it in its entirety.
The artists who were chosen to dialogue with works present in the Alinari Archives are Eleonora Agostini, Arianna Arcara, Marina Caneve, Francesca Catastini, Roselena Ramistella, and Alba Zari, all of whom were born in the 1980s. Each of the contemporary photographers sought out a point of contact with the archived photographers and used forms of expression that echo with the past in both a conceptual and reflective manner. The result is a fascinating dialogue, never clichéd or pedantic, that grants us a new vision and understanding of the works present in the Alinari Archive.
Virtual tour: visit Villa Bardini
Photos by Stefano Casati
Virtual tour: visit Forte Belvedere
Photos by Stefano Casati
See also
Video made by Olga Makarova for Calliope Arts
FOTOGRAFE!
Adele Atelier-Adele Perlmutter, Paola Agosti, Eleonora Agostini, Laure Albin-Guillot, Alessandra di Inghilterra o Alessandra di Danimarca, Diane Arbus, Arianna Arcara, Edith Arnaldi, Elbourn Barrett, Virginia Bartesaghi, Federica Belli, Margaret Bourke-White, Julia Margaret Cameron, Marina Caneve, Lisetta Carmi, Ghitta Carell Klein, Francesca Catastini, Carla Cerati, Marie (detta Maria) Chambefort, Carlotta Mae Corpron, Madame d’Ora, Gertrude Fehr, Brigitte Freed, Helene Magdalene Hofmann, Monique Jacot, Germaine Luise Krull, Nanda Lanfranco, Dorothea Lange, Ketty (Gaetana) La Rocca, Bernardine Caroline Théodora Hirza Lejeune (Leba), Emilia Manenizza, Myriam Meloni, Lucia Moholy, Verita Monselles, Inge Morath, Barbara Morgan, Maria Mulas, Giulia Parlato, Vàczy Petri, Marion Post Wolcott, Roselena Ramistella, Bettina Caroline Germaine Rheims, Marialba Russo, Chiara Samugheo, Eveleen Tennant Myers, Sofia Uslenghi, Bertha Ernestine Henriette Wehnert-Beckmann, Marion Wulz, Wanda Wulz, Alba Zari
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