When photography was born, in 1839, Italy was still a mosaic of states far from living together under one flag. Later the land, its undeniable beauty and its Renaissance and archaeological jewels became the first subject for professional and amateur photographers who renewed, now with a camera, the classic Grand Tour. Today, in a multiplicity of styles, photographers document a varied and problematic territory and offer new testimonies and new visual creations. The historian considers the legacy of the masters of Italian photography in search of an original voice and direction, through a non-linear narrative and a new point of view. "For a long time I sought a way to show that photography in Italy is not the product of the glossy tourist industry, but the fruit of the country’s rich visual culture."