Alessandra Failla

Alessandra Failla serves as a Research Collaborator in Digital Humanities at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, part of the Max Planck Society. Her work bridges art historical scholarship with computational methods to enhance archival research.

Her educational background includes:

• Master's degree in Digital Humanities and Digital Knowledge from the University of Bologna
• Bachelor's degree in European Art History from the University of Heidelberg

Her research interests focus on the quantitative analysis of archival materials, data visualization techniques for digital storytelling, and user-centered design for presenting complex archival information. Her work particularly emphasizes making sophisticated data analysis accessible to researchers with varying technical expertise.

At the Kunsthistorisches Institut, she contributes to the Digital Humanities Lab where she develops computational frameworks to analyze and visualize the institute's extensive photographic collections. Her previous work as a cataloguer at the institute's Photothek directly informed her 'Bürkelens' project analyzing Ludwig von Bürkel's photo collection and its impact on the Photothek's holdings.

Technical expertise forms a core component of her methodology, utilizing Python and Jupyter Notebook to create user-friendly analytical tools that support researchers working with historical visual materials.