Photography Research Library

The Library and Photothek of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz have been collaborating on the enhancement of a special collection of books devoted to the theory and history of photography and photographic archives. This Photography Research Library is arranged on open shelves at the Institute's building in Via Modena, in immediate neighborhood to the photographs.

The Photography Research Library includes literature published between the second quarter of the nineteenth century and the present day. Therefore, also rare and highly valuable nineteenth century books are available for consultation, and even ‘photography incunabula’ published immediately after the photographic method was first announced in 1839. The strength of the Photography Research Library lies in its international, transdisciplinary character.

In addition to ongoing acquisitions, the Photography Research Library could be expanded significantly in the past years thanks to the purchase of three private collections from the photography experts Timm Starl and Diego Mormorio, and the photographer Martin Salter. This was made possible by special grants from the Max Planck Society. Currently, the Photography Research Library holds over 11,000 books.

→ For further details on the Photography Research Library, see:
Margherita Naim: Photographs and Books as Research Objects. Enhancing and Expanding the Fotobibliothek of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, in: Rivista di Studi di Fotografia, 13 (2022), pp. 188–201
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