Photographs

The photography historical archive of Eni contains 50,000 black and white and colour photographs, 200,000 photography slides and 30,000 negatives, all of which in different formats and covering the entire 20th century period. This photographic collection has a high historical and artistic value because of its content and because of the photographers and studios involved (Federico Patellani, Aldo Ballo, Bruno Stefani, Mimmo Jodice, Marco Anelli, Studio Rotofoto, Studio Giacomelli and Publifoto). The size of the photography archive makes it possible to review the entire history of Eni and many of its companies, and as with other forms of documentary, particularly film documentaries, the photographs allow us to obtain information and news that goes beyond the immediacy of the images themselves.

The splendid photographs taken in the second half of the 1950s by Federico Patellani in the Egyptian oilfields do not merely tell us about the characteristics of the oilfields themselves but also give a clear, direct idea of the collaboration between our technicians and the local people. In the same way, the photos taken in the same period in the first MotelAgips do not just show us the sober architectural styles and furnishings but also the spirit of efficiency and politeness, which was the real selling point of the new Agip distribution network. Up to the present time, over 400 photographic sessions have been catalogued for a total of around 10,000 photographs, and these mainly deal with pictures of the chairman, Enrico Mattei, the industrial infrastructure and the service station network. The cataloguing of the photography archive material is done with the aid of software that is commonly used in the all the documentary sources available in the historical archives and with a special photographic catalogue designed in accordance with international standards. The information contained in the catalogue means that when a photograph is consulted it is possible to have access to a large amount of additional information relating to the photograph in question, to any eventual links with the documentary and film archives and also to see a preview of the main photos from the series that have been previously scanned. The photography historical archive was set up in February 2005 after the Pomezia site had been equipped with the best conditions for the conservation of all types of stored material.