Italian photographer Toni Nicolini captures the very essence of everyday life in 1970s Venice.
Despite its already falling population figures, the Venice Toni Nicolini photographed in the 1970s still comes across as a city teeming with life: children and the elderly wandering along the calli, washing strung between houses, small shops and neighbourhood bars. Before the onset of hordes of tourists, Nicolini captured the essence of daily life in an extraordinary city, yet one just like any other. There is no shortage of churches, monuments, St Mark's Square under high water, gondolas and vaporetti; however, the Milanese photographer is keen to document everything, even the damage caused by the Marghera petrochemical plant, following a vein of civic engagement that runs throughout his photography. Nicolini's great sensitivity—the Truffaut of Italian photography—captures the genuine spirit of the times: he depicts the youth of a society in flux, in a series of photographs that portray a Venice both familiar and unknown.
Toni Nicolini (1935–2012) became a professional photographer during the 1960s. He stood out thanks to his focus on everyday customs and his social commitment, particularly in the wake of his encounter with the painter Ernesto Treccani, who introduced him to the most backward regions of Southern Italy. From the 1970s onwards, for a couple of decades, he worked primarily for the Italian Touring Club on monographs documenting the country's historical and artistic heritage and the transformations of its landscape. At the turn of the millennium, his gaze fell to the twilight of industrial civilisation in the Milan suburbs. He also contributed to leading Italian architecture magazines. His archive is held at the CRAF in Spilimbergo.
