Looters, Photographers, And Thieves: Aspects Of Italian Photographic Culture In The Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries (the Fairleigh Dickinson University Press Series In Italian Studies)

Working toward an analysis of the influence of photography on the construction of an Italian «type» to serve the mandates of the new nation in the 1860s, this book engages the work of writers and photographers who have addressed or participated in this venture. From Giovanni Verga and Italo Calvino writings to the conceptual visual philosophy of Tommaso Campanella and Luigi Ghirris photography from the Arcadic gaze of Baron von Gloeden to Tina Modottis revolutionary vision, the works analyzed in this book have all contributed in shaping our contemporary visual vocabulary. And, while Italy is at the center of my considerations, the ideas that populate this work are in many ways globally applicable and relevant. Looters, Photographers, and Thieves seeks to contribute to the fascinating discourse on the photographic image and its specific uses in the representation of racial, ethnic and gender difference, and suggest how the isolation of images according to the dictates of power relations might influence and condition ways of seeing. Finally, this book is meant as a locus where the images produced in the shaping of notions of citizenship and cultural relevance in nineteenth and twentieth century Italy might reveal the processes of the imaginary. As such, the arguments and images in each chapter thread through each other to propose ways by which to approach disparate subjects and forms in order to envision photographers themselves as seers rather than gazers. Working toward an analysis of how photography has contributed to the construction of an Italian'type'to serve the mandates of the new nation in the 1860s, this book engages writers and photographers who have attempted to address this in their works. From Giovanni Verga and Italo Calvino to the conceptual visual works of Tommaso Campanella in words and Luigi Ghirri in photographs; from the Arcadic gaze of Baron von Gloeden to the revolutionary vision of Tina Modotti, the works analyzed in this book have all been major contributors in the shaping of our contemporary visual education. While I am mostly concerned with Italy, the ideas that populated this work are globally applicable and relevant. Works on the photographic image that engage the specificity of representation related to specific groups, race, ethnicity or gender have found, in the isolation of images by thematic terms, an eloquent ground for specific visual formations. Looters, Photographers, and Thieves seeks to contribute to this fascinating discourse and the constantly evolving realm of figurative possibilities it opens up. This books is a locus for the collection and accumulation of images produced in the shaping of notions of citizenship and cultural relevance in nineteenth and twentieth century Italy. The arguments and images of each chapter thread through each other to propose ways by which to approach disparate subjects and forms in order to envision photographers as seers rather than gazers. Working beyond solidified terms of reference in both photography and literature toward more fluid and open spaces, I have chosen photographers that are quite unlike each other in their craft and ideologies: Tina Modotti, Giovanni Verga, Baron von Gloeden, Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine all are seen as contributors in shaping a particular vision of their world that remains relevant in ours.. Given the fact that much of the photography considered within the pages of this book is in dialogue with, or the product of, national or colonial programmatic agendas, it is only fair to ask what potential spaces for intervention upon them might remain if this is not done outside of established disciplinary bounds. Working toward an analysis of the influence of photography on the construction of an Italian "type" to serve the mandates of the new nation in the 1860s, this book engages the work of writers and photographers who have addressed or participated in this venture. From Giovanni Verga and Italo Calvino's writings to the conceptual visual philosophy of Tommaso Campanella and Luigi Ghirri's photography. From the Arcadic gaze of Baron von Gloeden to Tina Modotti's revolutionary vision, the works analyzed in this book have all contributed in shaping our contemporary visual vocabulary. And, while Italy is at the center of my considerations, the ideas that populate this work are in many ways globally applicable and relevant. Looters, Photographers, and Thieves seeks to contribute to the fascinating discourse on the photographic image and its specific uses in the representation of racial, ethnic and gender difference, and suggest how the isolation of images according to the dictates of power relations might influence and condition ways of seeing. Finally, this book is meant as a locus where the images produced in the shaping of notions of citizenship and cultural relevance in nineteenth and twentieth century Italy might reveal the processes of the imaginary. As such, the arguments and images in each chapter thread through each other to propose ways by which to approach disparate subjects and forms in order to envision photographers themselves as seers rather than gazers. The Raw And The Cooked-up : Opening Thoughts On Bodies -- Photography As Literary Art -- Photographers, Looters, And Thieves: Stolen States Of The Image Nation -- Giovanni Verga : Photography And Verismo -- Imaging America : The Photography Of Lewis Hine And Jacob Riis -- Imaginative Contradictions : Von Gloeden's Disruptive Bodies Of Representation -- Tina Modotti : Life Through The Ground-glass. Pasquale Verdicchio. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Introduction The raw and the cooked-up: opening thoughts on bodies Photography as literary art Photographers, looters, and thieves: stolen states of the image/nation Giovanni Verga: photography and verismo Imaging America: the photography of Lewis Hine and Jacob Riis Imaginative contradictions: Von Gloeden's disruptive bodies of representation Tina Modotti: life through the ground-glass. What do we 'see' when we think of Italy? How is our sense of that country, its people and culture formed, what conditions it? Looters, Photographers, and Thieves suggests that our visualization and relationship to a place like Italy is the result of a long and complex series of constructed images that have their origins in the ideology of nation building