Mezzogiorno: Southern Italy's Vanished World in Early 20th-Century Photographs at Fotoplastikon Warszawski

This exhibition at Fotoplastikon Warszawski presents a sentimental journey to Southern Italy from the early 20th century through 48 stereoscopic, hand-colored photographs. These images capture a world that no longer exists, depicting daily life, historic cities like Messina and Naples, and picturesque coastal scenes over a century ago.

Fotoplastikon Warszawski invites visitors on a sentimental journey to Southern Italy as it was in the early 20th century, presented through 48 stereoscopic and hand-colored photographs. This collection captures a world that has since vanished, suspended between the realities of daily life and the advent of impending history. The exhibition offers a deeply moving testament to images from over 100 years ago, where life unfolded at a gentler pace along seaside boulevards and port stalls. The highly visual, three-dimensional photographs depict cities of the south such as Messina shortly before the devastating 1908 earthquake, the bustling metropolis of Naples, and smaller towns like Posillipo, Pozzuoli, and Reggio di Calabria. Visitors will see elegant palaces reflecting in the Mediterranean Sea, the monumental Duomo di Messina, the Fountain of Neptune on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, and the lively Piazza del Plebiscito. The exhibition also delves into images of old port buildings filled with the scent of fish, the narrow and dense streets of Palermo, and the sight of poor children playing barefoot on the harbor quays, offering a final glimpse at a world that has long since passed, such as a street milkman against the backdrop of Mount Vesuvius. These and many other images of the Italian Mezzogiorno can only be seen at Fotoplastikon Warszawski.