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Ghitta Carell and Italian studio photography in the 1930s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2016

Alessandra Antola
Alessandra Antola*
Affiliation:
Department of Italian, Royal Holloway University of London, UK
*
∗ Email: alessandra.antola@ntlworld.com
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Abstract

This article explores the issue of elite representation through photography during the 1930s in Italy. It examines how modern technology affected representation and refers specifically to the work of Ghitta Carell, a photographer who became very successful by portraying prominent Fascist men and women in Italy, including the Duce. Images of the dictator had been continually developed since the late 1920s and frequent and various representations of his person, including the face, were pervasive. Carell's idealised style was much appreciated by high society and Fascist officials alike, while her work also has a darker emotional content that borrows from a painterly tradition. Although not engaged directly by the regime, Carell's work has to be considered as both separate from and complementary whilst also adding to the Fascist aesthetic. She was complicit with the cult of the Duce while revealing aspects of Mussolini's personality that other photographers avoided or missed.

Keywords

FascismItalyBenito MussoliniGhitta Carellphotography
Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , August 2011 , pp. 249 - 273
Copyright
Copyright © Association for the study of Modern Italy 

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