It’s like freezing today, well, 47 degrees, same as in Florence, where I’m visiting the Museo Nazionale di Fotografia F.lli Alinari, listed as the Alinari Museum.
I had never heard of it when I was in Florence in 1962 and 1982, which is understandable since it opened in 2006.
What I like immediately is its “collection of 20 photographs recreated in relief so as to be ‘viewed’ through touch. Realized in collaboration with the Stamperia Braille of the Region of Tuscany, this is the first time such an experiment has ever been tried.” In theory, I dislike the trend for museums to reach out, to dumb down their product to increase body count. I liked it when museums were as quiet and empty as churches. But how wonderful to have stuff for the “visually impaired.”
Although I liked seeing a portrait of the young G.B. Shaw, who’s always seemed Old to me, my favorite print, unattributed and undated, seems like a nice take on the marriage between art & fashion, and the evanescence (disappearing from sight) of beauty… “Water dress”: