Day 6 & 7 From Italy
We've moved up to the Alps, way up. My hosts have a place in a region called Stroppo in a tiny village called Morinesio about 5000 feet up in the Italian Alps close to the French border.
We drove for 1 1/2 hours from Alba, stopping along the way for the best bread, the best meat, the best cheeses, the best dessert and drove up and up to a hamlet on the side of the mountain that has a population of about 30, when they're all here, as many come here just for vacation. This below taken from the balcony of the house:
I don't know about you but the view from my condo in Cambridge isn't quite like that.
John and I went out to photograph and drove up the valley until we couldn't go anymore. As we headed north there was snow on the ground and in the late fall the trees were golden.
The region is popular for hiking, cross country skiing and mountain biking. The locals grow potatoes, wild boar is hunted and, of course, it is visually stunning.
The valley has an untouched quality to it. The locals have worked hard to preserve it and keep snowmobiliers out and are actively resisting a developer who wants to bring in a downhill ski area.
Actually, John and Donna's house is for sale. This site will give you details: Stroppo. Right now, I am sitting at the large dining room table as I write this. This is quite simply a wonderful home and an extraordinary place to live.
John and I are headed off to Noli today, along the coast of the Mediterranean, to spend a couple of days. From there we'll take an overnight to get back up to Paris for Paris Photo.
Stay tuned.
Related series
Trees, Italy 2009
These were made in 2009 on a sabbatical leave from my teaching position at Northeastern University. Driving from Venice to stay in Trieste for three weeks, I came across these stands of trees, interspersed among fields of wheat and corn, in a flat agricultural region near small towns with names like Latisana and Palmonova.
Digital capture is in color, so I made the conversion to black and white in post production, using Photoshop so that I was able to make these as duotones. The inkjet prints are 21 x 14 inches.
I returned to Trieste in the fall of 2012 and photographed the trees again, this time keeping them as color photographs.
Trees, Italy 2012
This is the second set of trees pictures made from west of Trieste, Italy. The first ones were made in 2009 and I converted the files to make black and white photographs.
The area where these trees are grown is about 40 minutes by Autostrada west of Trieste, near villages with names like: Latisana, Palmanova and Pocenia. The trees are grown as a crop and this past trip in September I got to see all of its phases, from planting to harvesting.
The prints are on 21 x 14 inches.
Rivalta, Italy 2012
Rivalta is near Trieste in northern Italy and was a small settlement that included a 15th century church, some farm buildings and a couple of houses. It is in an area that is heavily farmed and flat, with crops of corn, some wheat and stands of trees that are harvested for wood every 25 years or so.
This is another in a now-long list of series shot over a few hours on a flat gray day .
The prints in the portfolio are 22 x 17 inches.
Lago Di Bolsena, Italy
The primary description for this cemetery based series is on the blog as of January 2013 and can be found by searching for Lago Di Bolsena.
The prints are black and white and smaller than usual for my work at 17 x 11 inches.
