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PHOTOGRAPHY AS A TOOL AND MEDIUM OF ART HISTORY
Until recently, photo archives understood their main role to be making photographs available as a research tool. They had, therefore, no specific interest in the photograph as an autonomous object. Not until recently have scholars reconsidered the documentary photograph as an object of research in its own right. Photographic collections like those managed by the Photo library of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, which are characterized by a certain historical continuity, constitute places of research where scholars can work not only with photographs as a tool of art history, but also as the object of a more concerted historical analysis of art and culture.
In its entirety and untapped materiality this kind of photo archive, itself a historical ensemble, can generate new intellectual questions. Arising from this perceived opportunity, the Photo library has introduced a series of academic initiatives (lecture series, publications, seminars and conferences). In the process it links itself to a recently emerging trend towards a new historical focus in international art historical research. The analysis of the interplay between technical advances in visual reproduction on the one hand, and art historical methods and questions on the other, ought to be applied to the most up-to-date technological innovations. This is imperative since the rapid development of digital technologies has led to a profound paradigm shift in image-based research, a shift comparable to the advent of photography in the 19th century and its consequent impact on the discipline's subject matter and methodologies.
After a first lecture series accompanied by a publication ('Fotografie als Instrument und Medium der Kunstgeschichte', ed. by Costanza Caraffa, I Mandorli 9, Berlin etc. 2009) a conference series on the topic of photographic archives has been initiated. The first two meetings, 'Photographic Archives and the Photographic Memory of Art History I-II', were held at The Courtauld Institute of Art in London and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz (London, 16-17 June 2009; Florence, 29-31 October 2009). The proceedings are published in a volume with the same title. The subsequent conference held was 'Photo Archives III. Hidden Archives' in New York at the Institute of Fine Arts (25-26 March 2011). The initiative was continued with 'Photo Archives IV. The Photographic Archive and the Idea of Nation' again in Florence on the 27-28 October 2011.


 



Photo Archives and the Photographic Memory of Art History, ed. by Costanza Caraffa, Berlin etc. 2011

Internationale Conference "Photo Archives - Part I" (London, 16 - 17 June 2009)

Internationale Conference "Photo Archives - Part II" (Firenze, 29 - 31 October 2009)

Internationale Conference "Photo Archives - Part III" (New York, 24 - 26 March 2011)

Internationale Conference "Photo Archives - Part IV" (Firenze, 27 - 29 October 2011)
 
CIMELIA PHOTOGRAPHICA
Coinciding with the increasingly all-encompassing age of digitalization is the growth of a consequent interest in the original analogue formats of photographic material, even though it was originally produced and collected for purely academic purposes. From this, an academically and historically oriented branch of research quickly emerged that is independent from photography as an art form. Recent studies have recognized that above all the value of historical photographs dating before 1900 goes well beyond their documentary intention, thus raising their status from mere tools to objects of historical inquiry. With the project "Cimelia Photographica", the systematic study of the Photo library's considerable holdings of historical graphic material has become a central focus of its activities. Such activities include the high-resolution digitalization of the Photo library's card-mounted photos along with all relevant data. Therefore, not only are the photographs themselves entered into the digital archive, but also the historical traces accumulated through their archival history. A first selection of these photos dating between 1850-1900 is currently being exhibited online at http://expo.khi.fi.it/galerie/cimelia.


  



 
Online Exhibitions
Online exhibitions open up privileged access to the diverse holdings of the Photo library and have been organized regularly since November 2006. These online exhibitions are conceived especially for a web-based format and consistently exploit the possibilities of virtual presentation. They offer insight into the Photo library's various fields of activity as well as targeted access to its historically significant collection. In this way the Photo library creates specific thematic arrangements of its resources, informs specialists about new photo campaigns and current research undertakings at the institute, and educates the wider public about the historical significance of photography with regard to the conservation of the cultural heritage.


 



http://expo.khi.fi.it/galerie
 
PRINTS
The print collection of the Photo library dates back to the early history of the institute, when, along with photographs, engravings and prints still served as important study material for art historical research. The 1,076 sheets (among which a notable collection of views of Florence) have been completely digitalized and are now accessible in the Digital Photo Library at http://photothek.khi.fi.it.  


    
Cenobium
This project seeks to make Romanesque cloister capitals virtually accessible for various forms of research, the preservation of historical monuments, and educational purposes through the deployment of digital photographs, 3-D models and an interactive computer application. On the one hand, the capitals are presented in their architectural and historical context, while, on the other, the project provides the basis for an analysis of artistic exchange and collaboration throughout the Mediterranean in the 12th and 13th centuries. After initially dedicating its energies to the cloisters of Monreale and Cefalù in Sicily as well as the capitals of Sant'Orso in Aosta as the most significant cycles of historiated capital sculpture in Italy, CENOBIUM is now realizing further campaigns in Spain.
On this project, the Photo library is working in collaboration with the institute’s research department headed by Gerhard Wolf. See http://www.khi.fi.it/en/forschung/ projekte/projekte/projekt6/index.html.


 



http://cenobium.isti.cnr.it
 
FIRENZE CITTÀ NOBILISSIMA - Topography and Representation
This project is carried out in collaboration with the institute's Library.

STEMMARIO - Coats of Arms of the Florentine families, churches, confraternities and hospitals
This project is carried out in collaboration with the institute's Library.


    
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