Museo della fotografia

Recently opened, the Museum of Photography stores and displays a collection of photographs representing the landscape, the history, the monuments, and generally the art and ethnography of Friuli. Its exhibits comprise 19th-century photographs depicting local monuments and works of art, including the very first photograph (1856) taken by a Friulian, Count Augusto Agricola: it portrays a group of people standing under the Loggia di San Giovanni in Piazza Libertà.

Portraiture was another popular photographic genre: the collection includes photographs taken at engagement or wedding ceremonies and a family photo album from the turn of the century, containing photographs by prestigious Udine studios. The room also houses photographs by Silvio Maria Buiatti (1890-1982), one of the best interpreters of pictorial photography, very popular in the 1930s.

Other photographs by Buiatti, on the themes of landscape, work and society, are displayed in the following room, which also includes images documenting the construction of the Pontebbana railway (by Venetian photographer Carlo Naya); the exhaustion of peasant women carrying hay on their backs and the devastation of the Verzegnis earthquake of 1928 (Luigi and Carlo Pignat); budding Friulian resorts such as Lignano and Grado as well as early industrial works (Attilio and Giuseppe Brisighelli).
During this fascinating journey through time visitors can explore the interior of two photographic studios, and actually manipulate a magnificent vintage camera.