Piergiogio Branzi, "Florence, Alley in Via del Corso"

 

  

     I am sure most of you have realized that this week we are not looking at a painting, but rather at a photograph.   In seeking new works for this blog, I came across this work and knew I had to include it.  Some of you may know I used to teach photograph at the high school level, so have always been drawn to the medium as an Art form and view it no differently than a painting.  The artist simply created the image using a different process.   In the expanded world of photograph there are several classifications and Art photograph is simply one, and that is the one we discuss this week.   

   I did not know of Piergiogio Branzi, and since have discovered he was born in 1928 and is still living.  He was born in Florence, Italy, the very location where this image was created.   Since discovering this artist I have looked at many of his creations from this period and have been amazed.  In reading, I learned he was influenced by many but especially Henri Cartier-Bresson and Ansel Adams.  I would think many of you may know of Adams.  He was American and photographed brilliant images of the American West, one of the most famous being Yosemite. Adams loved very sharp images and high contrast - meaning lots of blacks and whites.  He would go into the darkroom and manually pull, hold chemicals till he achieved the desired result - just as a painter would make adjustments with paint.

    So that is enough background, now our image.   Our title tells us this is Florence and an alley.  We see a man with his back to us, in a very casual pose. He and his bicycle are obviously our center of attention, but only to a minor degree as the framing of him inside this urban setting is so very striking.  The black frame separates him from us, we are on the outside, peeking in at what he is doing.  Is he talking to someone?  Waiting for something?   We can only guess.  

   "Florence, Alley in Via del Corso" was created in 1954.  It is a part of a series of five images Branzi made at this location and at a time when he was recording the urban environment after World War II.   It is a photograph, meaning a gelatin silver print on paper.  It's unconfirmed size is 9.25 inches by 9.41 inches, so the work is almost square.   It is part of the permanent collection of the Tate Gallery, London.   

    Make Art a part of your life, it's a beautiful thing to do.