“Special” Narrations: The Photographic Albums of the Medical Pedagogical School Padre Gemelli in Turin

A wide photographic documentation, consisting in 12 listed albums, is collected in the historical archive of the primary school Padre Gemelli in Turin. The most surprising element is represented by the fact that it is a collection of photos of “School for abnormal psychic” of the City of Turin, furthermore it is grouped in thematic albums that are characterized even for their temporal wholeness starting from 1930 to 1960. This intervention aims to study the pictures itselves within a special school, finding out the possible narrative lines that intend to suggest. The purpose in this case is not to reconstruct through the images the teaching history in a special school but the purpose is about questioning the images in all perspectives, in order to to make the historical object itself be able to speak. This paper will focus on some of the narrative phenomena identified: the Padre Gemelli school images compared to the “Great History”, to the micro-history, to the school history (labs, educational supports, …).