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My father-in-law, Joseph Toglia (the “G” is silent) is from a little town (on a big mountain) in Italy called Pescopagano (in the province of Potenza). He is one of 5 siblings – falling between two older brothers and two younger sisters.
Joseph (or Giuseppe) emigrated to the U.S. in 1954, and, before retiring, was Professor of Neurology at Temple University in Philadelphia. Below is a photograph I made several years ago of Joseph with his beloved tractor.
Joseph Toglia, Photograph by Harold Ross
His father (Antonio) was also an amazing man; he wore many hats, as was more common 80-100 years ago (and in a rural mountainous town) than it might be today.
He and his wife owned a general store, complete with a gas station, and he was a blacksmith, as well as the town’s pharmacist!
And it doesn’t stop there; he also practiced veterinary medicine and surgery, and was knowledgable in botany (probably due to his practicing pharmacology), as well as being an electrician!
Not long ago, Antonio’s grandson gave me some of his grandfather’s possessions from those days; a set of brass weights, probably used with the pharmacy scale; and a coffee grinder, most certainly used in the general store.
I recently made some photographs (using light painting, of course) of these very old, but beautiful objects:
Brass Scale Weights from Italy, Photograph by Harold Ross
Italian Coffee Grinder, Photograph by Harold Ross
I believe that objects carry tremendous meaning, and the objects that were used daily by my wife’s grandfather and grandmother in Italy might even carry their spirit. In photographing these objects, I hope to somehow capture that spirit. – H.R.
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All images from students over the years are HERE.