Written by: Prof.Dino Coltro
"It is not easy to penetrate deeply the cultural values that are hidden behind aspects of daily life; that "something more" which is hidden in objects and things close to us, but which we are unable to express. Few painters have given us images that penetrate the melancholy of passing hours; very few authors have expressed interior strength with words. Those who succeed are artists, that's all there is to it.
But can we achieve these same results with photography?
The question comes naturally to me when facing Toninelli's "portraits", his "visions" of the Verona Plain (la Bassa) and the Lake; images that have the tone and light more of an "imagined" reality than one actually seen. And I am surprised to find myself admiring beautiful photographs (why look for useless adjectives?) where I find the passage of time, the harmony of things, the melancholy of lost dreams.
As we know, images tend to predominate over words and a camera hanging from a shoulder strap has taken the place of a pen making hurried notes.
Toninelli lives in Malcesine. Goethe got there in a rather haphazard way with his "travelling diary"; who knows if a modern-day Goethe would come with a diary or with an album of photographs? I wonder.
I do know that Toninelli does not travel much except to come down to "la Bassa" as a pilgrim or to stop and contemplate Lake Garda. His is not a huge world. It's not The World. But there is a whole world in his photos: the world of people, of countryside, of real things, the "something more" that he knew how to express with art."
San Giovanni Lupatoto, 23 July 1988


Written by: Federico Vender
"When I came to beautiful and picturesque Malcesine, to enjoy a rest after so many years of work, it was a great pleasure for me to find, on Lake Garda, a companion for my great hobby, someone else who understood that taking a photograph was an effort in study: from taking the photo up to developing and printing it. And in spite of the fact that Mr. Franco Toninelli was a professional photographer he still retained the enthusiasm of the amateur, something that is extremely rare. From time to time I have the opportunity of seeing his works: black and white and colour prints that reveal his artist's sensitivity in selecting his subjects and in composition, with perfect technique and total command of his tools. His characteristic portraits and colourful nocturnal scenes are done with great understanding and are worth mentioning. His fruitful activity leaves us waiting to see many more beautiful photographs."
October 1979