by InTrieste
In a significant cultural acquisition, the Municipality of Trieste has secured the extensive photographic archive of Marino Sterle, an acclaimed local photographer known for chronicling the city’s evolution over the past three decades. The CRTrieste Foundation, which purchased the archive in 2019, officially transferred the collection to the city this week in a signing ceremony led by CRTrieste President Massimo Paniccia and Francesca Locci, head of the city’s tourism and cultural events division.
Comprising half a million images, Sterle’s archive includes 200,000 analog and 300,000 digital photographs, capturing the development of Trieste’s port, the Karst region’s economic activities, and the city’s changing landscape. His work also covers notable visits from national and international figures and various aspects of local life, from portraits to documentary photography, illustrating both the grand and everyday moments in Trieste.
The archive will be housed at the Civic Museums’ Photographic Library, joining other notable collections, and will soon be accessible to the public.
Sterle, a celebrated figure in Italian photography, contributed to national publications such as Life, Panorama, and Corriere della Sera, as well as Trieste’s own Il Piccolo. Known for his evocative compositions and masterful use of light, Sterle has always approached his work with humility. In a 2014 interview, he described himself as “a creative” rather than an artist, despite having been honored by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region as a Master of Photography.
In 2018, Trieste awarded Sterle a bronze medal for his contributions, acknowledging a body of work that not only documents the city’s heritage but also brings it vividly to life. The newly accessible archive promises to be a rich resource for understanding Trieste’s past and its cultural identity.
