A request for help from my BloggingPompeii colleagues: I'm working on a project about excavation photographs taken during Vittorio Spinazzola's excavations along the Via dell'Abbondanza. There's plenty that's fascinating about them (as I hope you can see in the above photo of excavations in the House of Octavius Quartio): among other attributes, their emphasis on the process of excavation, their presentation of reconstructed stage sets of Pompeian life, and the artistic sensibility that infuses the shots.For a while I had little luck tracking down anything about the relationship between photographers and excavators other than the very obvious point that the latter had a distinct taste for appearing frequently and prominently in the images. I've recently discovered, however, that Vittorio Spinazzola appears to have employed two photographers in sequence. The first, Domenico Losacco De Gioia, had an extensive track record in the artistic world of Naples. The second has a very suggestive name -- Guido Spinazzola. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to dig up anything about him. Does anyone happen to know much about the Spinazzola family tree or have any suggestions about where I might find out more? Your help is very appreciated.
