The World’s Oldest Photography Agency Approaches Financial Crisis

The historic location of The Fratelli Alinari Archive. Courtesy of www.rassegna.it.

Florence, desperate to keep the collection within the region, has taken measures to ensure the collection stays put. In December of 2018, the collection was placed under an export ban for its importance to the history of photography. Further, the mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, has announced the region’s dedication to keeping the collection by creating a joint acquisition with the region to offer up a large venue at no cost. Negotiations about the acquisition of the collection will begin as soon as the collection is valued by the Italian culture ministry; until then, the collection will remain in storage.

Dario Nardella, mayor of Florence, during his 2019 State of the Union speech. Courtesy of stateoftheunion.eui.eu

The City of Florence, desperate to keep the collection within the region, has taken measures to ensure the collection stays put. In December of 2018, the collection was placed under an export ban for its importance to the history of photography. Further, the mayor of Florence has announced the region’s dedication to keeping the collection by creating a joint acquisition with the region to offer up a large venue at no cost. Negotiations about the acquisition of the collection will begin as soon as the collection is valued by the Italian culture ministry; until then, the collection will remain in storage.

Construction of the Eiffel Tower image from the Fratelli Alinari Archives. Courtesy of http://www.edu.alinari.it.

At the end of August, the agency will also close the doors of their Alinari Image Museum in Trieste, due to lack of support from the city.

 

Shauni Bernier

Share Button