Grosseto. “Terre di Maremma – The 28 Municipalities of the Province of Grosseto” is the title of one wonderful photography book which collects countless period photos, from the 1930s to the early 1970s, which portray the land of Maremma and the 28 municipalities of the province of Grosseto. An ideal journey, discovering the past through the images of the Fratelli Gori Archive and the texts of Professor Leonardo Rombai.
The volume, published by Innocenti, will be presented Friday 28 June, at 5pm, in the Pegaso room of the Province of Grosseto, in Piazza Dante Alighieri 35. Speakers will include: Francesco Limatola, president of the Province of Grosseto; Maria Enrica Monaco Gorni of the Fratelli Gori Archive; Leonardo Rombai, former full professor at Unifi; the publisher Stefano Innocenti; Paolo Pisani, anthropologist, journalist.
He will intervene and moderate the event Luca Mantiglionieditor of the newspaper La Nazione.
“I hope that, thanks to our images – he claims Maria Enrica Monaco Gorni –taken from the Fratelli Gori Archive, and the texts of Professor Leonardo Rombai, who contributed with an important historical-territorial framework essay, this volume can be a valid aid for the promotion and knowledge of the Municipalities of the Province of Grosseto”.
“Effectively – adds Rombai – the period photos used here, dating back to the decades between the 1930s and 1940s and the 1970s, represent a wealth of art and knowledge that can be used by anyone, starting from the world of school and training, to reconstruct historical processes and the great transformations that have affected our province, with its many specificities: the post-war reconstruction, the agrarian reform, the crisis of the mining industry, the flood of 1966, the economic boom, urbanism, the development of the marinas and of tourism. The images of the Gori Brothers allow us to recognise, together with work and life (traditions, celebrations, sports, free time) which have generally undergone considerable transformation, the richness of history and nature which continues to embellish the inhabited centres, the settlements minors and the rural landscapes of the Maremma Grossetana.”
“This book represents an important tool for rediscovering our roots and appreciating the beauty of the territory – declares Francesco Limatolapresident of the Province of Grosseto – The historical photographs of the Gori Archive allow us to learn about the past through the communicative power of images and to better understand the profound transformations that have shaped our land. I hope that the volume will be an inspiration to explore the 28 municipalities of the province of Grosseto with renewed interest, capturing their different peculiarities”.
The Archive of the Gori Brothers
The Photographic Archive of the Gori Brothers was born at the beginning of the 20th century thanks to Enrico Gori who, a theater actor and painter, also became passionate about the art of photography. Enrico opened the first “Artistic Photography” shop in Assisi at the beginning of the twentieth century. He took artistic photographs with views of the city of Assisi, monuments and churches, then reproducing these images in postcard format.
Enrico intended photography as “a work of art in competition with painting”, but also “a way of documenting an era.”
After 1928 Enrico Gori moved his business not only to Rome, but also to Maremma, first to Follonica and then to Grosseto, helped by his sons who over time became professional photographers.
Today the social promotion association Archivio Foto Gori, which manages the photographic archive, sees the heirs reunited.
Since 2021, thanks to the financial contribution of Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, with partners the Municipality of Grosseto, local businesses and trade associations, the digitization project of the entire archive has been launched: already over forty thousand images can be consulted on the site.
This book, which can be purchased in bookstores, adds to the extensive bibliography on the Gori Brothers archive already present: another work that aims to be an important contribution to the valorization of the Maremma.
