Chapter 6. “A successful photograph is worth as much as a story”

Abstract

Bruno Munari was an Italian artist, graphic designer, and illustrator who combined art and design to great effect in his visual art and books. During his long, interdisciplinary career, Munari experimented with many artistic possibilities: painting, illustration, sculpture, design, graphics, teaching, poetry, and writing. He also cultivated a peculiar relationship with photography. This chapter investigates photography’s influence on Munari’s poetics, from Futurism and other Avant-garde movements to the Bauhaus and László Moholy-Nagy’s work, graphic design experimentation, and collaborations with photographers. His multifaceted approach can be investigated through two editorial project typologies: photocollage and photographic picturebooks. What is discussed is how historic, artistic, and cultural photography influenced his children’s works and to what extent photographic experimentation affected Munari’s creativity and aesthetics in his original books.