Piazza della Signoria by Eric Lindbloom. This image introduces the book of this collection from Florence, Italy 1994.

By Paul Goldfinger, photography editor @Blogfinger.net

In 1994, American photographer Eric Lindbloom published his book, Angels at the Arno, containing  images in Florence from 1979-1987.

The preface says, “This is a city not so much of paintings and trattorie as of mysterious, hidden sculptures, emerging from the ancient architecture like stone made flesh. As Linda Pastan writes in her preface, Lindbloom’s Florence is “transformed from a city of blaring car horns and leather vendors, impressive piazzas and forbidding facades to a quiet place of small streets and courtyards, of homespun angels whose wings throw light and shadow over everything, even at high noon.”

I saw this collection in 1994 when an exhibit at the Howard Greenberg Gallery in SoHo featured this body of work. As a photographer I was impressed by the soft richness of his images, especially since they all were obtained with a Diana camera, a plastic toy.

Cameras such as this have imperfections due to light leaks and a plastic lens, but in the right hands, they can create remarkable photographs.   There is a cult following for this genre.

I purchased a signed copy of this book at the exhibit as well as one of his prints, all of which were beautifully crafted in the dark room.

Lindbloom, born in 1934,  has continued to exhibit his black and white landscapes, with his most recent gallery show this past summer at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.  He is one of the founders of the Center for Photography in Woodstock, NY.

Published 1994.

From the soundtrack of the Godfather III.

“Va, Pensiero.”   Nabucco by Verdi.