Published 2022-04-05
Keywords
- Illustrated press,
- «Comoedia»,
- stage photography,
- caricature,
- photographic sociability
How to Cite
Abstract
The cultural phenomenon of illustrated press that characterizes the passage between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries determines, even in theatrical field, a real explosion of specialized periodicals, in which the novelty of stage photography finds space immediately, as well as the other types of images linked to the performing arts, fueling a specific market and a progressive specialization of professional photographers. At the same time, however, the nature of the magazine’s material support imposes a new visual dynamic and a different relationship with the reader/spectator. In this context, the article focuses on the Parisian newspaper «Comoedia» (1907-1937), and more particularly on the emblematic case of Ernesto Brod, a photographer now completely forgotten, and of whom very little biographical information remains, but who is instead very active as a photographer, as well as a caricaturist, on the pages of the journal during the first quarter of the twentieth century. His photographic production, apparently amateur and with a lower profile than that of other more renowned photographers, represents instead an example of adaptation to a broader strategy of mediatization of the theatrical event, in which photography plays a fundamental function as a tool for interaction and sociability with the audience.