Fotoreproductie van achttien portretten van Siciliaanse brigards door Giuseppe Incorpora, verkleind 1887 - 1888

Marinus Pieter Filbri created this photographic reproduction of eighteen portraits of Sicilian brigands. The sepia tones and the grid-like arrangement immediately bring to mind early methods of documentation and classification. Filbri’s reduction of Giuseppe Incorpora’s original portraits into a series of miniature oval frames invites us to consider the photographic medium's power to both preserve and dissect. The arrangement flattens individual identities into a collective display, evoking the visual language of scientific taxonomies. Yet, the softened edges of the oval portraits and the warm hues hint at the human stories behind these figures, captured in a moment of historical tension. The act of re-photographing already existing images introduces layers of meaning, questioning the nature of authenticity and representation. This work, though small in scale, speaks volumes about the complex interplay between image, identity, and historical narrative.