Carlo Ponti Italian, b. Switzerland, c. 1823-1893
Born in Sagno, Carlo Ponti moved to Italy in the 1840s, where he specialized in Venetian and other Italian views that were popular among travelers beginning in the mid-1850s. After 1857 he also published views made by photographer Carlo Naya, and distinguishing between their work can be difficult. Beginning in 1860, Ponti published tourist albums called Ricordo di Venezia, which included 20 views of Venice selected by the purchaser and bound in an embossed cover. The relationship between Ponti and Naya ended in 1868 over a business dispute.
Ponti was also an optician, and his familiarity with optical instruments eventually led him to work with camera lenses. He invented the megalethascope, a Victorian device used to view panoramic photographs—a novelty that won him some acclaim as well as a Grand Prize at the London Exposition of 1862. Four years later he was awarded the title of optician and photographer to King Vittorio Emmanuelle II of Italy. Affiliated with the Architectural Photographic Association, Ponti produced some of the best known views of Venice. His work appears in numerous collections and publications. T.W.F.
