Circolo Fotografico La Gondola - Venezia

Photogallery & Scritti

When I began taking photographs and writing at the beginning of the 1970s there was a great choice of periodicals willing to give space to those who wished to talk about photography. In the weeklies “Nord-Est” and “7 Giorni Veneto” I found what I was looking for. I had a good two pages with which to work, which I could fill as I pleased. I thus began travelling around Italy to visit exhibitions and meet professionals and amateurs. My “interviews” thus came to life, some of which are proposed here, which now remain a historical record. They were all registered, aside from one, that of Sergio Del Pero. It was the only one that he conceded in his whole life and he refused to speak in front of “that thing”, speaking of the microphone. All those who have known him remember how shy and discrete he was. Indeed, he let his images speak for him.

Photographers often gave me one or more of their prints, out of recognition. All this documentation lay unused, amongst my photographs, which have been exhibited in the most disparate spaces, in Italy and abroad.

I have been a member of the Circolo from 1973 to 1978, an unforgettable period, full of inspirations, cultural ferment and beautiful friendships. Later, work and other engagements took me away from these. All the same the passion has never been extinguished, so much so that, in the last years I continued to make photo-reportages that have enriched my already large collection. In addition I have never stopped following the activities of the “Gondola”, both by reading the “Notiziario”, or trying to be present at the openings of their exhibitions, in order to maintain the umbilical cord which has never been cut and which also makes me feel part of a group, in such a way that one day, surfing the website, the idea came to me that all my precious material would be more useful and safer in their archives.

This is how the Basaldella Collection was born.