When we founded L'inchiostroblu in 1980, our aim was to fill a gap in the world of Italian publishing: books on photography. This was, to begin with, quite a gamble, as in Italy there is no particular passion for photography, unlike in other countries, where it is considered a form of art. Here, if ever considered as such, it is definitely in a minor form. But we were convinced of its potential right from the start, so we invested time, resources and effort to reach the goal. Now, twenty years later, we can proudly say that the gamble has paid off, as you will see if you visit our catalogue on this site.

Once we had decided that photography would be our speciality, the next step was to establish what our subjects would be. With a quotation of Mallarmè in mind ("The world was made to end up in a beautiful book"), we pointed our camera at the world closest to our hearts: our home, Bologna, the hills, the plain, the whole of Emilia Romagna. We have gone through Bologna inch by inch, street by street, photographing all its splendours, climbing up to the top of the two towers, walking under all its porticoes, discovering its parks, entering its most secret interiors, often reaching places where the camera had never before been allowed. We did this in order to paint the most complete portrait of the city possible, immortalising its numerous, incomparable attractions in thousands of different poses. Over the years many professional photographers, experts in landscapes and architecture, have put themselves to the test, as well as various well-known writers, historians and authors, who, with their texts, have made their own contribution to the extensive pictorial research which went into the creation of our books, making each one more complete.

We have, occasionally, been "side-tracked" from the thematic and geographic subjects which make up our usual field of research. We have done this in the past, and will continue to do so, whenever the subject is suitable to the "aesthetic" approach which is most congenial to our particular attitude towards publishing. Our aim, however, is always the same: we want another small part of the world to end up in a beautiful book.