Activities

As stated in the Foundation Statute, the object is to safeguard. to keep in order and to propagate, (through suitable cultural exhibitions,) photographic material of historic interest, starting with the archive which has been conserved by the Negri family.

In the strictly photographic sector the Negri Foundation works with third parties to:

• acquire and put into good order original photographic material.
• put into order and catalogue public and private photographic archives.
• computerise photographic archives to facilitate access to researchers.

In practical terms the Negri Foundation promotes its own heritage through:

• publishing books in the form of a recognisable series of high quality volumes.
• the examination, care and presentation of photographic and documentary exhibitions.

Duties

The acquisition and the putting into order of original photographic material.

For some time now the Negri Foundation has been involved in a series of acquisitions, the recovery and re-organisation of private and publically owned photographic collections. These have enlarged the existing collection of the Negri Studio to enrich a series of themes of historical interest. Among recent acquisitions of company and private collections we can cite the Vincenzo Orlandi archive and the Angelo Orlandi archive, both from Brescia, the Peroso Photographic Archive of Milan, the Zampini Salazar Archive from Turin and the Archetti Archive from Brescia.

Public and private photographic archives put into order and listed in catalogues.

The accumulated experience of the Negri Foundation in the field of organising photographic archives of historical interest and its use of specific software for creating catalogued computer records gives a guarantee of excellence for archive research into public and private collections. This system gives an opportunity to all interested parties of evaluating the content of an archive and to consider its promotion or exploitation. Among the collections that have already undergone this process we can cite the extraordinary Breda Meccanica Bresciana Archive and the equally exiting archives of the late professor Andrea Curami.

Computerised photographic archives that facilitate access for researchers.

The Negri Foundation is equipped with specific computer hardware that enables it to complete un-aided the duplication and storage of photographic archives. In particular the Foundation owns:

• A professional SCITEX horizontal scanner, A3 format.
• LEAF digital back professional close up photographic equipment
• CANON digital reflex cameras
• MAC format software and hardware

Publishing activities and Photographic Exhibitions.

The extraordinary wealth of our photographic archives and the automatic systems for researching subjects or dates, coupled with the pool of professional people who co-operate with the Foundation, (industrial historians, journalists, photographic and printing experts,) make available a formidable computerised library of images and specialist knowledge to students or researchers in search of fresh material or subjects in order to write books or to create visual documents for exhibitions.