The Botanical Garden of the University of Padua houses a collection of 1705 photographic plates by the botanist Achille Forti (1878-1937), predominantly depicting botanical subjects, yet en- compassing a wider range of themes. In his palace in Verona, Forti had established a fully- equipped laboratory where he pursued his botanical research. e camera was an indispensable and essential tool for his scientific work. Despite William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), one of the ‘photography’s fathers’, recognizing early on the potential of photographic reproduction for botanical studies, Italian botanists in the early 20th century were divided between those who favored traditional botanical illustration and those who experimented with the new medium. e ‘objectivity’ of photography, apparently drawn by nature itself, did not always reflect the purposes of botanical drawing, which oſten aimed to highlight specific features of a specimen. As a renowned algologist of his time, Achille Forti recognized the invaluable role of photography in scientific research, documentation and communication. He was a scientist-photographer, who combined disciplinary knowledge with competence and mastery of photographic technique. rough his photographic plates, publications, archival materials, and botanical collections, this contribution aims to demonstrate the pivotal role that photography had as research tool and com- munication medium, in the scientific activity and production of the Veronese botanist.
Istantanee di natura. Achille Forti e la fotografia botanica del primo Novecento in Italia
Claudia Addabbo
2025
Abstract
The Botanical Garden of the University of Padua houses a collection of 1705 photographic plates by the botanist Achille Forti (1878-1937), predominantly depicting botanical subjects, yet en- compassing a wider range of themes. In his palace in Verona, Forti had established a fully- equipped laboratory where he pursued his botanical research. e camera was an indispensable and essential tool for his scientific work. Despite William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), one of the ‘photography’s fathers’, recognizing early on the potential of photographic reproduction for botanical studies, Italian botanists in the early 20th century were divided between those who favored traditional botanical illustration and those who experimented with the new medium. e ‘objectivity’ of photography, apparently drawn by nature itself, did not always reflect the purposes of botanical drawing, which oſten aimed to highlight specific features of a specimen. As a renowned algologist of his time, Achille Forti recognized the invaluable role of photography in scientific research, documentation and communication. He was a scientist-photographer, who combined disciplinary knowledge with competence and mastery of photographic technique. rough his photographic plates, publications, archival materials, and botanical collections, this contribution aims to demonstrate the pivotal role that photography had as research tool and com- munication medium, in the scientific activity and production of the Veronese botanist.
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