Il primato critico di Giuseppe Turroni: la genesi e il contributo della Guida all’estetica della fotografia a colori (1963)

Abstract

First published in 1963, Giuseppe Turroni’s Guida all’estetica della fotografia a colori was a pioneering attempt to chart the emergence of color photography in Italy at the height of the nation’s economic boom and to provide the critical tools for assessing its aesthetic and cultural values. This article retraces the genesis of the ‘guide’ in the articles and books published by Turroni since 1958 (in parallel with his work as film critic) and discusses the peculiar character of his pedagogical critique. Focusing on works of amateurs and professionals rather than established artists, the book advocated photographic color as a harbinger of beauty, as a tool of self-cultivation and civic growth against the accusations of “hedonism” and aesthetization levelled by radical critics of the left.

DOI: 10.4424/rsf2023-7