The “FOTOEDU – Photographic archives for the history of schools and education” project is part of a long process of reorganization and enhancement of the Indire photographic collection fund, which took place under the scientific supervision of the Italian Society for the Study of Photography (SISF). The over 14,000 images preserved in this photographic archive – whose original nucleus dates back to the 1925 National Educational Exhibition – embrace various themes: from school buildings to educational activities carried out in schools (lessons, gymnastic exercises, shows, meals, scientific experiments , etc.), up to the cultural activities carried out by the National Educational Centre of Florence.

It is one of the most important photographic collections relating to the history of the school and educational systems present in Italy, both for the quality of the materials and for the specificity of the subjects represented, a unique one of its kind, since it includes both a vast chronological (from the end of the 19th century to the mid-1960s) and geographical span (the entire national territory).

FOTOEDU enables to put online the entire Indire photographic archive, but also intends to create a national cumulative catalogue of photographic collections, coordinated by a national Indire/SISF observatory. The aim is to enhance, as it has already happened with FISQED (Italian historical funds of notebooks and didactic materials), a documentary heritage of extreme scientific interest, through the census of the funds, the establishment of a documentary network and the progressive development of a catalogue accessible on the internet.

Work group

Project Manager: Pamela Giorgi (INDIRE historical archive)
Other contributors: Dario Berbeglia, Alessandra Cucolo, Rita Ercole, Elena Franchi, Paolo Malevolti, Fabiana Spinelli, Irene Zoppi