Reorganization of the Johnny Moncada Photographic Archive
Project location: Italy, Rome, Reggio Emilia, Florence, Milan, Perugia, London
Project start date: September 2012 -
Project end date: September 2013
Project number: 2012-058
Beneficiary: Associazione Culturale Valentina Moncada
The aim of the project is to deepen the study of the late Johnny Moncada's photographic activity, starting from an unexplored and unpublished material, recently recovered and today kept in numerous trunks which have remained closed for decades. This personal archive has more than 100,000 shots, negatives and ektachromes of fashion shoots and advertisement. It reveals the birth of Italian Fashion, the world famous 'Made in Italy', fashion designers, style and models of that time. The project wishes to catalogue and date these shots. Research in public libraries is necessary for this purpose in order to locate these photographs in periodicals of that time. Original photos are also present in archives of fashion houses and private archives of models. This precious historical material contained in the trunks, risks deterioration because of the vulnerability of negatives and prints. Without conservation deterioration will be inevitable. This project of study and conservation will eventually constitute a testimony of fashion, a history of Italian fashion photography and Italian style. This project received a grant from the Nando Peretti Foundation.
The project foresees the following activities:
• Research in Libraries for fashion magazines published between 1955 and 1970. Dating and naming photo shoots by Johnny Moncada, Creating a data base with all the details of these shoots.
• Research in the archives of fashion houses such as Irene Galitzine, Emilio Pucci, Max Mara, Andrè Laug, Mila Shon, Luisa Spagnoli, Rocco Barocco, Capucci, Simonetta, Lancetti, Valentino among others. The study wishes to archive all photos by Johnny Moncada in the data base.
• All these images will be confronted with the negatives and ektachromes in the trunks and a catalogue raisonné will come to life.
• Restoration and conservation of these negatives and ektchromes will create the base for many exhibitions and books on this material.
The creation of this archive will provide a chronological history of the stylistic evolution of the photographer, as a representative of an unforgettable season of Italian fashion and advertisement.
It will bring to life the birth of the Made in Italy, its most significant fashion creators, models and Italian design. The multiplier effect will be in the inclusion of this material in fashion exhibition, articles and books of related subject.
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The Associazione Culturale Valentina Moncada's goal is the practice and the diffusion of cultural activities, the organization and participation, both local, national and international of cultural manifestations, art exhibitions, editorial projects, conferences, concerts, research projects and all activities that increase the social life of the Association. In this sense, this project proposes to study, restore and organize the Johnny Moncada's archive which is composed of circa 100,000 negatives.
Johnny Moncada was a fashion and publicity photographer active in Rome between 1955 and 1970. This work is essential to the future creation of a Foundation in his name.
