| The history of the postcard exhibited in Florence |
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by Anna Maria Fiorentino
Furnished with material supplied by the Alinari archives, the exhibition was divided up into 10 sections, each of which illustrates the presence of the photographic element in the postcard. At the advent of their utilization they were a simple means of communication. However, with the growth of postal correspondence, they have grown more elaborate, not just used for publicity purposes, but also containing captions or brief representations that waver between the naive and the malicious.
The postcards present in the exhibition boast characters from the Belle Epoque, children as photographers in the grass struggling with tripods and backcloths and adults as photographers, audacious and enterprising with their models who for the epoch are rather scantily dressed. They become therefore, like a game of Chinese boxes, photographs of photography. In the photography and celebrity section one comes across the divas of the cinema and famous celebrities grappling with cameras and movie equipment.
| The exhibition poster |
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To name but a few of the celebrities, we can see there Sophia Loren, James Dean, Marylin Monroe, Queen Elizabeth II of England and an odd portrait of Giovanni Paolo II treating the photographers to a playful image that reflects the siege of camera-men. Fassbinder is there too, with his face concealed by a camera but whose identity is apparent from his unmistakable waistcoat over the string vest that tries to restrain his corpulence.
Among the themes of the various sections, that range from photography and publicity, military, tourism, animals, appears also the theme of photographic equipment, in which the postcards publicize the various makes of cameras and the practicality of their use.
"Photography in postcards"
Poste Centrali (Central Post Office) via Pellicceria 3, Florence.
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