The Vernacular Look/Lo Sguardo Vernacolare

Moments of daily life in Italy in the 20th century. Original vintage photographs

Curated by Matteo Giacomelli
The exhibition in Spazio e Immagine studio-gallery in Bologna is dedicated to Italian Vernacular Photography from the 1910s to the 1980s. Vernacular Photography has been one of the main themes of interest of Spazio e Immagini since its opening in 2017.

By Vernacular Photography, a term capable of accommodating heterogeneous categories of photographs ranging from amateur ones to those for scientific use, passing through professional studios and much more, we mainly mean photographs taken by unknown authors. Vernacular photos stand out both as documents and visual testimonies of a present or past era and for their freshness and freedom of invention capable of offering unexpected perspectives and aesthetic qualities. 30 original vintage photographs selected from the large collection of vernacular photos present in the gallery are on display.

These shots focus on moments of life spontaneously immortalized between days of holidays at the seaside or in the mountains, between soccer matches or naps on the grass. These are surprising snapshots, between urban or fantastic architecture, in which daily life is transposed into poetry by unknown artists. It could be added that these photographs appear all the more perfect the further they distance themselves from the rules and customs of the traditional photographic discipline.