[1] In 1960 she eventually decided to leave a promising career as a concert pianist to focus on photography; her first commission was as a stage photographer at the Teatro di Sant'Agostino in Genoa.
The resulting exhibition Genova Porto at Doge's Palace, Genoa, was received with critical acclaim and led her to collaborate with national magazines.
Her 1972 photo-book I travestiti ("The cross-dressers"), which focused on the Italian LGBT community, generated controversies, with many bookstores refusing to carry the publication.
[4] Among Carmi's best known works are her 1977 photo-books Acque di Sicilia ("Waters of Sicily"), with a text by Leonardo Sciascia, and Metropolitain (2018), set in the Paris Métro.
Among her well-known subjects were Ezra Pound, Charles Aznavour, Joris Ivens, Edoardo Sanguineti, Lucio Fontana, César Baldaccini, Judith Malina, Carmelo Bene, Leonardo Sciascia, Jacques Lacan and Claudio Abbado.