In 1844 William Henry Fox Talbot wrote, in The Pencil of Nature, the photography is “both a mode of drawing and a system of representation in which no drawing takes place.” With this paradox Talbot forcefully put the accent on the dual nature of the system of representation of which he was one of the inventors: photography is simultaneously active and passive, it draws nature and at the same time it allows Nature to draw itself. 

Together with the problem of representation, photography raises that of narration and its verification. The photographic shot, in this sense, can be seen as a “literary” text, an open work, a screenplay that can always be rewritten. Starting with texts by artists and writers, we will attempt to outline a path of reflection on these themes, involving participants in discussions and practical exercises. The participants are asked to bring one photographic print (of a public or private image) they feel is significant. 

Effetto Venturi is a cycle of seminars and meetings on issues tied to the transmission of artistic know-how that Peep-Hole is organizing at the Museo del Novecento. During 2015 Effetto Venturi intends to develop the reflections on education in the sphere of art, offering a ‘temporary school’ inside the museum, where invited artists can organize seminar work starting with specific thematic units.