Contrasto, the Italian agency and book publisher, has launched a series of ipad apps on Great Photographers with a publication devoted to Mario Giacomelli,

Including about 300 images, seven essays, a virtual exhibition tour, an interactive timeline, a manifesto on photography written by Giacomelli, and an interview with him by Frank Horvat, the app aims to be much more than an electronic version of a printed book, according to Roberto Koch, director of Contrasto. “I think tablet computers and iPads specifically are one of the best tools to appreciate photography,” he says. “Images look good on the back-lit screen but you also have the opportunity to include video and multimedia, and select and create your own private album of images.”

The app will be available in both English and Italian, with some spoken Italian translated via subtitles. It costs €9.90, and is available now via the app store. “We wanted to stay below €10, even though you get much more than in a regular book,” says Koch. “We calculate it would take ten hours to enjoy the app completely. But experience will help us to determine the exact price.”

Contrasto created the app with Keitai, a team of software developers based in Milan who programmed many of the elements from scratch. Two more apps are planned for spring – one on Sebastiao Salgado and another on William Klein – and Contrasto plans to include at least ten titles in the series, each of which will be individually designed. “We thought we’d start with an Italian photographer because we’re an Italian company, and we also created a very successful touring exhibition of his work which is still ongoing,” says Koch, adding that the virtual exhibition tour shows how Giacomelli’s images were presented in Milan.

“It was difficult to show photographers what we had in mind before we had something concrete to show them but we plan to launch two more apps in spring, one in January and the other in April. We are taking it step by step because every app is individual.”

Koch is keen to attract a wider international audience with the series, and plans to translate some of the apps into up to five different languages. He has “no idea” how many times the app on Giacomelli will be downloaded, but points out that a free app that Contrasto launched earlier in the year, which focused on the Forma Galleria in Milan, was downloaded about 12,000 times in three weeks. He describes iPad publishing as a great opportunity for publishers, but adds that Contrasto remains committed to printed books too.

“In the US ebooks are substituting print books - with the exception of illustrated books,” he says. “My point of view is that books will continue to exist and that we will continue to produce more books and find a wider international audience for them - we’re finding it easier than ever to find co-publishers [to create internationally-distributed print books]. The electronic book doesn’t give the same experience as a book, with its physical presence and quality of printing and so on.

“But the app is a different product. I consider it something completely new, because it gives you a much more personal experience than a website, and it allows us to protect the content. We need to become a publisher of this new product, there is a huge space to fill.”

Contrasto's app can be downloaded at http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/mario-giacomelli-the-great/id471847222?mt=8