Primoli has been described as ‘photography's missing link’, bridging the gap between Nadar and Henri Cartier‐Bresson. A photographer of considerable range, he recorded picturesque Roman street scenes, political events, and the leisure activities of Europe's glitterati, earning a posthumous reputation as a progenitor of action photography and the photo‐essay. Yet his specific interest in instantaneous photography marks him as a particular kind of amateur photographer. Serious amateurs, technically astute practitioners who flourished during the 1890s, were often men of fortune and leisure. Primoli's pursuit of the instantané, precursor to the snapshot, is typical of the interests of this little‐studied group.
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