Carlo Naya

Carlo Naya Italian, 1816-1882 Along with Carlo Ponti, Carlo Naya was a major photographer in 19th-century Venice. Born in Tronzano di Vercelli, he trained as a lawyer and traveled with his brother to Asia and North Africa before settling in Venice around 1857. There he worked in conjunction with Ponti until a business dispute in 1868. Naya's work covered a number of subjects, especially architecture and the reproduction of works of art. He also produced genre scenes, as well as travel views such as those taken during a trip to Egypt in 1876. Principally a commercial photographer, Naya generated over the course of his career some 8,000 negatives, which continued to be printed by his business until around 1918. His work, well received throughout Europe, was awarded gold medals at the London Exposition (1862) and at the Exposition Universelle in Paris (1867). Naya served as official photographer to Italy's King Vittorio Emmanuelle and in 1870 became a member of the Société française de photographie. T.W.F.