by Paola Bonifazio and Francesca Giombini

Also known as fotoromanzi (in Italian), roman-photos (in French), and fotonovelas (in Spanish), “photoromances” are illustrated stories composed of photographs and written texts (captions and balloons) and published serially in magazines. Born in Italy in 1947 and then exported all over the world, selling millions of copies per week,photoromances are demeaned and chastised in public opinion, and rarely studied by scholars,