Exterieur van een klokkentoren before 1905

Giuseppe Pizzighelli created this photograph of a clock tower sometime before his death in 1912. This image of a traditional structure in what was then Bohemia is shown as an illustration in a book about photographic techniques. In its time, photography was caught between its artistic and documentary functions. The image appears in a technical manual and it shows a straightforward view of a civic building. Yet, by choosing this subject, Pizzighelli elevates the role of photography from purely scientific to artistic documentation. It's interesting to note that Pizzighelli was not only a photographer but also a military officer. This social position allowed him to explore technical applications of photography. At the same time, he was part of the Photo-Club in Vienna. To fully understand the context of this image, we might look at surveys of photography in Austria-Hungary and manuals that demonstrate photographic techniques of the time. This would give us a better sense of the artist's aims and his place in the society.