Genevieve Maynard Photography

This limited edition collection of hand-printed, postcard-sized images* captures moments from my travels across Italy. The collection's inspiration stems from four key influences.

 

First, a cherished assortment of postcards sent to my family by travelling friends between the early 1900s and the late 1950s. The captivating charm of early hand-coloured photographs—featuring scenes of Californian motels amidst orange groves, and type-set advertisements for long-forgotten tearooms in Venice—felt impossibly exotic to a young child. The postcards, adorned with the scrawled handwriting of the adult senders, were a window into faraway worlds.

Second, a 2022 exhibition at the Scuderie in Rome, ‘L’Italia è un desiderio’ (‘Italy is a Desire’), which explored the evolution of Italian landscape photography over nearly two centuries. It ranged from the romantic photographs of early photographers on their Grand Tour in the late 1800s to the more documentary approach seen in modern times, where photography serves as a tool for capturing and analysing urban growth and transformation.

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Third is my own curiosity to explore whether my ‘travel snaps’ could encapsulate some of these themes, using historical photographic printing techniques such as cyanotype and Van Dyke brown.

 

The fourth influence comes from my reflections on modern travel and the ways we experience other cultures in the 21st century. Almost everyone captures photos with their phone and shares them instantly. How many of us still send postcards?

 

I've long been a fan of the pictorialism of early photographic pioneers. Their romantic aesthetic often arose from the limitations of late 19th-century photography, which required long exposures and was often carefully staged, but was also influenced by the pastoralism of landscape painting during that era. I’m also drawn to modern photographers like Mario Cresci, Luigi Ghirri, and William Eggleston, who investigate so-called ‘ordinary’ scenes, revealing their inherent beauty.

 

In this collection I merge all these influences, creating a contemporary vision of the ‘bel paese’. I’ve paired my own travel photography with traditional photographic hand-printing techniques, creating unique, postcard-sized works of art, each with a postcard layout on the reverse side.

 

Globalisation and the internet have made unique souvenirs, once exclusive to specific places, easily accessible worldwide. For example, I can walk into a homewares shop in Johannesburg, South Africa, and purchase a handmade ceramic piece from the Amalfi Coast. Many traditional travel souvenirs now feel redundant. Additionally, with more people travelling light—often with carry-on luggage only—there’s simply no room for a handmade leather coat or a case of Barolo wine.

 

But there’s almost always room for a postcard or two.