Campaigns

The municipalities of Corcumello (AQ), Palomonte (SA), San Ginesio (MC), and Monteleone di Fermo (FM) allowed us to develop the first pilot tests to verify and refine the effectiveness and sustainability of our intervention methodologies. The aim was to resolve critical issues, demonstrate the real utility of this process, and promote its results. PIC – Heritage in Common will always be grateful to these welcoming communities and their administrations and will dedicate all future results of its journey to them.

Methodology

Imaging diagnostics for tangible heritage – as in medicine – constitute a fundamental step in developing a preventive, therapeutic, and intervention pathway. Our campaigns utilize the primary technologies of non-invasive investigation and advanced representation. The added value lies in having optimized a workflow capable of achieving highly efficient results with an optimized and cost-effective setup. The ultimate goal is to train local teams equipped with agile and easily accessible tools, capable of thoroughly and periodically documenting all at-risk territories, in collaboration with communities, local institutions, and heritage protection bodies.

The methodologies are divided into three complementary areas: Classic “Alinari-Style” Documentation for archival and dissemination use, Diagnostics for material study, and Advanced Navigation for data fruition and integrated analysis.

Alinari-Style Documentary Photography

The Alinari Style represents the first and most systematic Italian approach – the first codified in history – to the photographic documentation of architecture and works of art. Developed starting in 1852, the method combines scientific rigor, visual coherence, and a dual mission: to preserve memory and to raise public awareness. This is, in absolute terms, the cultural and operational root from which our entire project moves, its ethics, its concerns, and its hopes. We conceive the birth of this archive as an “Alinari of Risk”, where the coherence of the visual style serves not only aesthetics but also the scientific comparability of data over time, becoming indispensable evidence for diagnosis, intervention planning, and funding requests.

Fundamental principles of this approach are:

  • Alinari Principle: Application to Heritage at Risk.
  • Systematic Documentation: Creating photographic campaigns repeated from the same points, to monitor the evolution of decay, seismic damage, or abandonment.
  • Technical Rigor and Coherence: Always using the same vantage points, angles, and lighting conditions to obtain images that are scientifically comparable over time.
  • Dual Purpose: Producing images that are both technical documents for experts and superintendencies, and effective communication tools to raise awareness in the community and institutions.
  • Contextualization: Photographing monuments or historic centers not as isolated subjects, but in their relationship with the surrounding territory, highlighting hydrogeological risks or depopulation.
  • Narrative Construction: Using images to visually tell the story of a place’s transformation, its value, and its fragility, building an archive that is also a collective history.

Diagnostics

These diagnostic tools reveal details invisible to the human eye, fundamental for study, conservation, and restoration:

  • IR Reflectography (Infrared): Imaging in the infrared spectrum that penetrates the surface layers of paintings and manuscripts, revealing underdrawings, pentimenti (artist’s changes), and underlying text.
  • False Colour IR: A composite that combines infrared and visible-light data to create distorted yet highly informative colour maps, useful for distinguishing between similar materials and pigments.
  • UV Fluorescence (Ultraviolet): A technique that exploits the light emission of certain materials under ultraviolet light. It highlights retouches, altered varnishes, organic deposits, and differences in surface chemical composition.
  • RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging): A computational photographic system that allows for digital interaction with the light on an object, greatly enhancing micro-surface details such as engravings, graphemes, tool marks, or wear.
  • Macro Photography: Ultra-high magnification imaging to meticulously document and analyse material details, craquelure, micro-degradation, and the texture of a support.

Advanced Navigation

Methodologies for the management, exploration, and high-definition dissemination of cultural heritage in immersive and interactive formats:

  • HD (High Definition) Images: Gigapixel captures that allow for in-depth navigation within the work, enabling the observation of details beyond what is visible in person, directly from a web browser.
  • 3D Models: Three-dimensional digital reconstructions of objects, sculptures, or architecture. They are dynamic tools for morphological analysis, dissemination, and the creation of physical replicas through 3D printing. They can also be created via drone photography for documenting façades, archaeological sites, and inaccessible areas.
  • Virtual Tour: A virtual traversal of space and time. More than a simple 360° visit, it is an interactive visual hypertext that allows for the exploration of environments (museums, sites, churches), delving into content in real time through info points, links, and multimedia integrations, creating a personalized narrative experience.

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