An Attic Full of Trains

"The work of Alberto di Lenardo is a precious discovery" – The Guardian

"Remarkable [...] is this the new Vivian Meier?" – Artnet

"Alberto di Lenardo’s images reveal a joyous cross-section of 20th-century life" – The Financial Times Weekend Magazine

At the top of Carlotta di Lenardo grandparents’ house in Italy there is a room which houses the library. A hidden door amongst the bookshelves opens into a secret attic, a large room dominated by an enormous model railway, which her grandfather built and added to throughout his life.

Significant though it was for her relationship with him, one day during a family lunch he revealed her another of his not very secret passions – his enduring love for photography – and shared with her his archive of more than 8,000 photographs: a body of vernacular work capturing over half a century of life in vivid colour.

Unknown in his lifetime, Alberto di Lenardo’s work offers a precursor to some of Italy’s best-loved photographers, from Luigi Ghirri to Guido Guidi, with work made across Italy, the USA, Brasil, Morocco, Greece and beyond. In Carlotta’s scrupulous sequencing, An Attic Full of Trainsshows us a joyous cross-section of life in the 20th Century: one of beaches and bars, mountains, road trips, lovers and friends.

Swiss-bound paperback with flaps
Bilingual text (English, Italian)
21 x 14.8 cm, 232 pages

ISBN 978-1-912339-96-9