Vittorio Besso

Secondary railways of Sardinia: Arbatax station. Photograph by Vittorio Besso, ca. 1888

Vittorio Besso from Biella (1828-1895), after studying painting in Grenoble, returned to his hometown around 1850, where he learned the first rudiments of photography from his friend Giuseppe Venanzio Sella (author of the Photographer's Plic, the first theoretical-practical treatise on photography printed in Italy).
In 1859 he became a professional photographer, starting his own laboratory. He participated in the Crimean War, during which he had the opportunity to observe Roger Fenton, one of the first war reporters, at work.
Thanks to his personal commitment to the Unification of Italy, he earned the favor of King Vittorio Emanuele II, who in 1880 authorized him to bear the title of Photographer of His Majesty the King of Italy.
Some of the best-known figures of the time posed for him: the royals, the pope and Mazzini. In 1880 he went to Sardinia for the first time, to portray Garibaldi in Caprera. From that date, two important commissions from the contracting companies will bring him back to the island several times: the documentation of the impressive development of the mining plants in the Iglesiente and the construction of the new network of the Sardinian Secondary Railways.
The images created in the Monteponi mining area in Iglesias are about 45, printed in large format, mounted on cards imprinted with the photographer's data and collected in two large red leather folders, entitled “Collection of internal and external views of the Monteponi mine in Sardinia”. This is one of the first examples of industrial reportage, in which the focus is essentially on documenting the technical innovation brought to coal extraction and processing processes.
On the other hand, those relating to the construction of the Royal Railways of Sardinia are about 35, similar in appearance but contained in a large album (kept in the Royal Library of Turin, a gift from the contractor to the king). At the center of the work, also in this case, is the engineering daring in overcoming natural obstacles, through viaducts and tunnels, as part of the construction of the new railway network.

Update

31/3/2026 - 11:50