Vittorio
Sella
 Vittorio
Sella (1859-1943) was born in Biella on the 20th
of August 1859 from Giuseppe Venanzio Sella and Clementina
Mosca Riatel. The father, an industrialist and scientist published
“the plico of the photographer” in 1856. It was
the first treatise on technical photography published in Italy.
After the death of the father, the young Vittorio gets the
materials of the father and continues with the experiments
both chemical and photographic. The interest for photography
mixes with the interest for the mountains, passion that was
transmitted to him by the uncle Quintino Sella, once Prime
Minister of Italy and founder of CAI (Italian Alpine Club).
After the military service and more than ten year of activity
within the family industry, Vittorio starts climbing the Alps
and takes wonderful photographs with a 30x40 centimeters format.
In 1882 he gets married to Linda and the couple will get four
children.
In 1889, 1890, and 1896 he organizes expeditions in the Central
Caucasus. The documentation he gets will owe him the Cross
of St. Anne from the Tzar Nicholas II and the the price “Murchison”
from the Royal Geographical Society of London.
In 1899 together with the English climber Douglas Freshfield
and his brother Erminio he climbs the Kanchenjunga in Sikkim.
He accompanies the Duke of Abruzzi to the Alaska (Mount Elia)
expedition in 1897, in Uganda (Mount Rwenzori) in 1906 and
in Pakistan (Karakorum) in 1909.
It was Sella who first recorded the landscape, plants and
people of the Rwenzori in extensive and intimate detail, and
to whom we refer for clarity of the historical record and
pure artistic beauty. It is particularly interesting to note
how far the glaciers of the Rwenzori have receded since these
photographs were taken, nearly 90 years ago.
Sella presents his photos in national and international exhibitions
including at the annual Alpine Club of London. He receives
innumerable prices and certificates meanwhile his photography’s
tour the world over. His photos are in high demand for publication
of books, maps itineraries and paths, he becomes a point of
reference for mountain climbers, photographers, geographers
with whom Vittorio entertains an intense correspondence. In
the course of his life he never abandons mountaineering. At
the age of 76 he climbs the Cervino but he does not reach
the peak due to an accident occurred to his guide. He dies
in Biella in 1943 at the age of 84.
 The
Sella Foundation
The photography of Vittorio Sella composed
by a huge documentation of thousand of negatives and original
printings are today preserved at the Sella Foundation. This
is located in Biella, the home town of Vittorio, in the Piedmont
Region, surrounded by Alpine mountain range in the North West
of Italy. Apart from preservation, the Foundation is an important
actor in setting exhibitions in Italy and all over the world
and it is inexhaustible source of materials for writers, photographers,
researchers and mountaineers. It is exactly located within
the structure of the ancient and well known wool factory of
the Sella family and it is headed today by Lodovico
Sella, a descendant of Vittorio.
Contacts:
Fondazione Sella, Via Corradino Sella 10, 13900 Biella Italy,
Tel. +39 015 2522445, E-mail:
foundation@sella.it, fondazionesella@fondazionesella.org
The Camera of Vittorio Sella
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