Visual Culture

Photography at the ICCD between history and contemporaneity

The Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione (ICCD) was founded in 1975 when all the production of two historical institutes flew into it: the National Photographic Cabinet (GFN), founded in 1895 by Giovanni Gargiolli, and the National Aerial Photo Library, founded in 1958. In recent years, the Institute’s interest has also turned to contemporary photography with the acquisition of archival copies of authorial photographic projects.

The treasures and knowledge of the CSAC of Parma

Photolux Magazine’s journey through Italian photographic archives starts from the Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione in Parma, one of the first public institutions to deal competently with photography and today an efficient multifunctional space dedicated to culture and communication. It all began in the 1960s, thanks to Carlo Arturo Quintavalle and a trip to the United States.

Edwin Land, the genius inventor of instant photography

We trace the history of the father of Polaroid: defined as the last of the great geniuses for his innovative scientific discoveries, gifted with artistic sensitivity and ingenuity, Land completely revolutionised the concept of photography. And not only.

Paul Fusco – The photographer as witness

“We must be grateful to Paul Fusco for his determination to put us in front of what was done to cause suffering to all victims of injustice and wars, universally and across borders”. In memory of the great American photographer, who died in July 2020, and his work: a powerful, tragic, authentic document.

Stories are searched swimming under water

We decided to try, with this editorial, to trace an original narrative inspired by a famous surrealist practice: a twine of words and images of different authors, that give us back a maybe unlikely, certainly unconventional and free, vision of a moment that will remain – and must remain – in our collective memory for a long time.

Alinari – History of an Archive

Going through the history of the famous photographic Italian archive: a heritage of over five million images that is preparing to embark on a new journey, this time public, towards its enhancement and conservation.

The human body in contemporary photography

What idea has the XXI century of the body and how is it reflected in current photographic works? The curator Nathalie Herscdorfer collected in a book 360 sintense and emblematic images, synthesis of the many ways in which we love, hate or transform our outer shell. And she told us about it in an interview.