Curated by Davide Rondoni, Scrittura obliqua, 2026

This book explores the possibility of bringing together art forms often considered to be worlds apart: photography as an objective and direct reflection of reality, and poetry as the purest and most intimate expression of subjectivity. This comparison gives rise to a desire to explore, through artistic practice, the tensions and contradictions that emerge in the relationship between image and word.

The theme is analysed through illustrious examples of American photography, where this connection has been evident since the very origins of photography, in figures such as Herman Melville and Carleton Watkins in the 19th century, Walt Whitman and Edward Weston in the early 20th century, and later in the post-war Beat Generation, in figures such as Jack Kerouac, Robert Frank and Minor White.

In Italy, the work of the master Ugo Mulas is cited, dedicated to the equally imposing figure of Eugenio Montale, in particular to the collection Ossi di seppia. Mario Giacomelli plays a central role; throughout his career, he often drew inspiration from poetry, engaging directly with poets and the verses and works of authors such as Giacomo Leopardi, Cesare Pavese, Mario Luzi, Francesco Permunian, Sergio Corazzini, Vincenzo Cardarelli, David Maria Turoldo, as well as Edgar Lee Masters, Emily Dickinson and Jorge Luis Borges. Other Italian artists who maintained a close relationship with poetry, albeit in different ways, have also emerged: Franco Vaccari with his early visual poetry, Luigi Ghirri with his poetics.Other Italian artists have also emerged who have had a close relationship with poetry, albeit in different ways: Franco Vaccari with his early visual poetry, Luigi Ghirri with the poetic-poetry of the everyday in his research, often associated with a literary character, Giovanni Gastel and Giovanni Chiaramonte, who also cultivated a personal bond, alongside their professional one, with the poetic word, and Giulia Niccolai, who oscillates between and encompasses both.

This initial encounter gave rise to a desire to listen to the fundamental voice of the artists, employing a working method that has characterised the institution since its inception: that of public commissioning as a form of dialogue with the artists and a means of supporting experimentation.