The documentary function of photography, grounded in its adherence to the reality it depicts, has been, since its origins in Paris in 1839, one of its most fascinating and at the same time most useful features.
In Sardinia, as elsewhere, the first photographic genres to become established, borrowed from artistic practice, were portraiture and the production of views, monuments and works of art: pure beauty that investigated nothing of the historical complexity and social fabric in which the depicted subjects were set. Although photography was therefore used from the outset to document events in life, exotic places and historic architecture, the need for a kind of photography capable of reflecting the social, economic and cultural nuances of a country and its population matured rather slowly. The genre of social reportage appeared in history in the final phase of the nineteenth century, in response to the social and political problems connected with the Industrial Revolution and migration: the former reached Sardinia very late, while the latter affected it with dramatic intensity. Still marked by illusions of objectivity, but by then joined to a new authorial awareness, documentary photography became a leading force in the period of the Italian post-war years, a fundamental language that also responded to the ever-growing demand for images from publishing, journalism and communication. The new key words were to record, to narrate, to inform: to document, in a primarily functional sense, but with a new idea of interpreting reality based on the humanity of the photographer, on their values and ideologies.
An outstanding figure in this field is the Sardinian photographer Franco Pinna (1925–1978). After his involvement in the Roman Resistance and a brief experience as a documentary film operator, he devoted himself entirely to photography, becoming one of the most important authors of the second half of the Italian twentieth century and a leading name in the neorealist movement. A photojournalist, in 1952 he helped found the Cooperativa Fotografi Associati together with Plinio De Martiis, Caio Mario Garrubba, Nicola Sansone and Pablo Volta, drawing inspiration from the international model of the Magnum agency, founded in Paris in 1947 by the photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, David Seymour, George Rodger and William Vandivert. Pinna published the volume Sardegna. Una civiltà di pietra (Rome, Lea, 1961) and, a few years later, alongside his work as a photojournalist, began a long collaboration with Federico Fellini, following an earlier lasting professional relationship with the anthropologist Ernesto De Martino.
Among the founders of Magnum, the French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004), a pioneer of modern photojournalism, travelled to Sardinia in the summer of 1962 on assignment for Vogue. His friendship with the sculptor Costantino Nivola, born in Orani and later settled in New York, guided him towards small villages rich in traditions, both in the interior—such as Mamoiada, San Leonardo di Siete Fuentes, Orgosolo, Orani, Desulo and Oliena—and along the eastern coast, such as Orosei and Cala Gonone, as far as the cities of Nuoro and Cagliari. His photographs of Sardinians taking sand baths on the beaches remain part of the visual imagination: a technique believed to keep rheumatism and arthrosis away, which simply involved being covered with warm sand. In the same year, the long relationship between the Genoese photographer Lisetta Carmi and Sardinia began, continuing for fifteen years until 1976. In particular, at the beginning of her regular journeys to the island, the photographer observed carefully, participated with enthusiasm and accurately documented the experiences of the people and communities she encountered. Her work brings out above all everyday life in villages and inside homes, with close attention to the world of work in Sardinia.

Bibliography
F. Pinna, Sardegna. Una civiltà di pietra. Roma, Lea, 1961.
La fotografia in Sardegna. Lo sguardo esterno, 1854-1939, a cura di M. Miraglia. Nuoro, Ilisso, 2008.
La fotografia in Sardegna. Lo sguardo esterno. Gli anni del Dopoguerra, a cura di M. Miraglia. Nuoro, Ilisso, 2009.
La fotografia in Sardegna. Lo sguardo esterno. 1960-1980, a cura di M. Miraglia. Nuoro, Ilisso, 2010.
G. D’Autilia, Storia della fotografia in Italia dal 1839 ad oggi. Torino, Einaudi, 2012.
U. Lucas - T. Agliani, La realtà e lo sguardo. Storia del fotogiornalismo in Italia. Torino, Einaudi, 2015.
L. Carmi, Voci allegre nel buio. Fotografie in Sardegna 1962-1976. Venezia, Marsilio Arte, 2020.