Matera in posa : The Photographic Self-Portrait of a Southern-Italian City, 1900–1920

Abstract

Photography has played an important role in framing popular perceptions of Matera. Scholarship has focused on its representation following 1945. Yet the fact that a photographic portrait of Matera existed before this time is often overlooked. Photographs of the city pre-dating 1920 were mostly published as postcards by local entrepreneurs. This article analyzes a selection of these in the context of evolving representations of Matera and Basilicata in the early twentieth century. Providing insight into the aesthetic and socio-cultural construction of this important aspect of the city’s early photographic portrait, it emphasises that postcards issued by local enterprises offered a perspective on Matera and Basilicata from the publisher’s point of view. They complemented a less prejudiced and sometimes positive portrayal of the region – emerging in a variety of texts, photographs, and public events – that modified narratives often narrowly focused on describing it as impoverished, backward, and isolated.