Carlo Ponti

Carlo Ponti – An innovative tinkerer makes his way

Born between 1822 and 1824 in Sagno, a small village in the Swiss canton of Tessin, Carlo Ponti learnt the basics of photography during his work as assistant in Cauchoix’ studio in Paris. In 1852 he moved to Venice and opened his own business selling all kinds of optical devices and photographs of interesting architectural features of Venice, Verona and Padua, as well as reproductions of classical artworks. With its high quality and exclusive range of optical and photographic instruments, the business quickly became the number one location and Carlo Ponti himself rose to become personal optician and photographer to King Viktor Emanuel II of Italy. Ponti became famous in particular for his new type of panorama lenses which enabled a richer detailed art of photography in large format, and for which he was awarded prizes. His so-called ‘Alethoscope’ especially was seen by experts as a milestone on the path from the static image to moving film.

Lengthy legal dispute about a wonder-lens

Carlo Ponti had great success working with respected Venezuelan photographers such as Domenico Bresolin, Antonnio Fortunato Perini and in particular Carlo Naya. His photographic repertoire, initially focused on architecture, was later widened to include portraits of urban life which gave a lively view of the clothing style of the various social classes at that time. These images delighted not only the numerous tourists who flocked to Venice, but also the Italian middle classes who took the opportunity to reflect on their own position in society. The initially fruitful collaboration with the photographer Naya broke down over a dispute about the rights to the jointly refined alethoscope. This ultimately led to a protracted legal dispute that Carlo Ponti did not win to his satisfaction, so that he finally brought his own version of the alethoscope onto the market. It proved, however, less successful than the version introduced by his former partner, Naya. Despite this setback, Ponti was able to compete successfully on the international market, and maintained branches of his company in London, Berlin, Paris, San Francisco, Montreal and Philadelphia. 

Diminished eyesight in later years 

Although Carlo Ponti had spent a lifetime developing and improving optical devices, he died in his adopted city of Venice on 16 November 1893 completely blind – a bitter irony of fate and perhaps also a result of his demanding experiments, which he pursued to the end despite his deteriorating eyesight. Part of his estate, including his self-constructed megalethoscope, can be seen today in the Musée Suisse de l’appareil photographique (camera museum) in Vevey in Switzerland.