Portaal van de kloosterkerk te Pavia 1864 - 1881

This photograph of the monastery church portal in Pavia was taken by Giacomo Brogi, an Italian photographer in the 19th century. Brogi, as many of his contemporaries, documented Italian architecture during a period of national unification and cultural rediscovery, but his work also echoes broader questions of identity and representation. Consider for instance, the ornate facade, a symbol of power and religious authority. Brogi’s photograph presents this site as a cultural artifact, yet it remains silent on the labor and the social hierarchies inherent in its creation. How does one represent the unacknowledged contributions of the working class? Brogi’s photograph invites reflection on whose stories are told and whose are left out of the historical narrative. Brogi’s capture prompts us to question the very act of preservation: which moments and histories are deemed worthy of remembrance, and what does this mean for the construction of collective identity?