Photographs by Ponti included in this catalogue
Alinari (& others) Photographs of Central & Northern Italy {1860-61} SLV [PH]
Ponti Photographs of Venice {1860} SLV [PH]
Born in Switzerland, Ponti studied in Paris, and then settled in Venice in the early 1850s, working as both an optician and a photographer. He produced numerous views of Venice in the 1850s and 60s, and also invented several devices for viewing photographs, including the alethoscope or dioramascope (prefiguring cinema).
The two albums listed above, both early acquisitions for the Melbourne Public Library, included a large collection of Ponti’s characteristic views of Venice, and several of his views of other Northern Italian cities (in the Alinari collection).
Refs.
For biographical details and further examples, see e.g. http://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=2640 and https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/1791/carlo-ponti-italian-born-switzerland-about-1823-1893/ (both accessed 6 Nov.2020)