Our handy list of Italian and international 20th-century photographers who explored and captured Abruzzo so perfectly through their lens and the books to find their work where possible.
“The lens showed Scanno’s women as queens, living classical sculptures, who retain their individuality, but at the same time become icons”
Of course, artists never stopped painting Abruzzo, but as photography and cameras developed in the 19th century, the trend of less art and more photos began. At the turn of the century, members of the British School at Rome were interested in the historic and archaeological sites of the region. For Ashby and his associates, the camera was an important device to capture their finds. But they were also interested in the strong traditions of Abruzzo, something that had already disappeared in much of Europe. They felt it was their job to capture this too.
In the 1920s we see an artistic element coming into play with the beautiful pictures of Angelo Vetta, these images are not captured for science or history, but to express something of the people and their lives. As the decades roll on, we see many photographs made for guide books that remain clinical but accurate, and also the development of the artistic side of the craft.
Hilde Lotz-Bauer leads a stream of others (many of them more famous than her) to Scanno to catch a lost world with their lenses. People hone the art of ‘catching the moment’ and by the 60s & 70s we are seeing pictures by the likes of Pepi Merisio and Norman Carver that convey strong emotion as well as representing the people and places of Abruzzo. All this before the digital camera had been invented…
Peter Paul Mackey (1851-1935)
– Photo Date 1896
– Magliano de Marsi and Monte Velino
Thomas Ashby : Viaggi in Abruzzo 1901/1923, BUY THE BOOK
William Harrison Woodward (1856-1941)
– Photo Date 1908
– Women of Scanno on the Way Home From Pratola Peligna
Thomas Ashby : Viaggi in Abruzzo 1901/1923, BUY THE BOOK
Thomas Ashby (1847 – 1931)
– Photo Date 1909
– The Livestock Market, L’Aquila
Thomas Ashby : Viaggi in Abruzzo 1901/1923, BUY THE BOOK
Angelo Vetta (1885 – 1954)
– Photo Date 1920s
– Monelli Abbruzzesi
Abruzzo e Molise by Vincenzo Balzano, 1927, BUY THE BOOK
Hilde Lotz-Bauer (1907-1999)
– Photo Date 1936
– Scanno
Orme di Donna 2012, BUY THE BOOK
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908 – 2004)
– Photo Date 1951
– Scanno
After the War was Over, 1985, BUY THE BOOK or Europeans, BUY THE BOOK
Folco Quilici (1930 -2018)
– Photo Date 1960s
– A Woman of Assergi
ABRUZZO & MOLISE 1970, CANESI, BUY THE BOOK
Mario Giacomelli (1925 – 2000)
– Photo Date 1957
– Scanno
Photographs from 1954 TO 1984, BUY THE BOOK
Renzo Tortelli (1926 – 2019)
– Photo Date 1957
– Scanno
Visit his website for book details
Mario Fondi (1923-2012)
– Photo Date 1960s
– Portocannone
Abruzzo e Molise, 1970 (UTET), BUY THE BOOK
Pepi Merisio (1931 – 2021)
– Photo Date 1969
– San Pio delle Camere
L’Abruzzo nell’Italia di ieri, 2011, BUY THE BOOK
Norman F. Carver Jr. (1928 – )
– Photo Date c1970
– Castelvecchio Calvisio
Italian Hilltowns, 1979, BUY THE BOOK
Written by Peter Austin, Moderator on the LifeInAbruzzo Facebook Group
“Abruzzo fan and photographer for the last twenty years, I got in the region’s art, history, culture, and nature through being there and collecting books!”
Read Pete’s Other LifeInAbruzzo Posts
- Tagliacozzo – It’s a Long Way to The Top
- Cantine nella Roccia – Tagliacozzo ‘ s Open Cellar Extravaganza
Author: Sam Dunham
Sam is a very lucky midlife 'mamma' to A who is 12 and juggles her work as a self-employed freelance SEO food and travel copywriter and EFL teacher - she is the founder of English in the Woods. She is the founder of the Life In Abruzzo community and co-founder of Let's Blog Abruzzo.