The ‘Bulletin of the Association of Amateurs of Photography’ (1889-1896): information and visual culture in Rome and Italy

My intervention aims to emphasize the role that the ‘Bulletin of the Association of Amateurs of Photography in Rome’ had in the formation and dissemination of a modern photographic culture in Italy. The club, the first of its kind founded in Italy (1888) – initially joined to the Naples Camera Club – was born from the meeting between Enrico Valenziani, employee at the Ministry of Education, and Giovanni Gargiolli, future director of the National Photographic Cabinet. For a long time it had been hoped for the birth of an institution capable of ‘uniting in close ties those who cultivate the photographic art in its many applications’, and therefore providing tools and opportunities for comparison to the increasing number of non-professionals – the introduction of bromide gelatin had in fact triggered a process of massification of the medium. In May 1889 the first issue of the official magazine was published (the last would be out in 1896) and it soon became one of the main specialized periodical in Italy together with ‘The Photographic Progress’ (1894) and ‘The Yearbook of Photography’ (1898-99). The ‘Bulletin’ had multiple purposes: to provide news on the development of techniques, materials, new researches and methods (sometimes through actual scientific articles); stimulate the exchange of knowledge and opinions, especially between members of different societies; inform about exhibitions and competitions, both Italian and international; recommend readings and insights. Each issue was enriched with phototypes, many of which made by the Danesi company, the most important studio in Rome