OCTOBER 25, 2015

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Frame

How many times do we see something while driving, then pull over,  leap out of the car, and race into the picture space to capture what it was that called out to us?  Here, while opening the door and reaching for the camera, I saw the frame within the frame and the way the mist seemed to have slightly different densities between the two. I made the photograph and then stepped out to be in the space more fully.

And although it was lovely being out there with the rolling mist and the small scale of the buildings on the far hill, it was the odd presence of the door’s shape that made the frame,e more playful and interesting.

10-25 L1002169

OCTOBER 21, 2015

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Dear Readers

I’m in Bologna where my new book ‘Morandi’s Objects,’ will premier at the same time as the exhibition of the new work opens at Spazio Damiani, and where I’ll be giving a lecture on the work at MAMbo, the Museum of Modern Art in Bologna.

My time will be pressured for the next 4 days so I am posting 4 images from the 21st to the 24th. Some portraits and landscapes.

The old farmer on whose place we rented our barn.

And below a young and beautiful publisher of FANTOM online Magazine.

In between the landscape plays out its fall beauty in vapor and light, 2 irresistible phenomena.

10-21 Antonetta L1002068

10-22 Trees L1002069

10-23 mist L1002175

10-24 dinner L1002235

0CTOBER 19, 2015

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Deluge

I drove half way across Tuscany to visit a printer outside of Florence, and on the way back, this was two years ago, a torrential storm, un diluvio, they say here, swept across the region destroying bridges, sinking towns and farmland, destroying late crops, a real disaster. Of course while I was driving it was only a storm, but it was intense and unlike anything I had seen here before. Even the locals said not since 1966 had there been this kind of weather. And then it had flooded Florence and destroyed artworks, national treasures and landmarks.

Tough driving and shooting too!

10-19 storm L1002109 copy

 

OCTOBER 18, 2015

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Singular

I remember setting out that morning to drive an hour south so we could look at a fireplace that might be built in the house we were renting. The day was, as it often is at this time of year, mist filled in every dip and hollow  and even heavier fog down on the flatlands of this one time sea bottom of a valley. And yet, just 20 minutes from here, when entering the next valley, the sun was out and the micro climate of that place made it into another day entirely.

I was shooting from the car as I often do and realized how frequently the single tree in the landscape appeals to me.

10-18 ftc L1002027 10-18 ftc L1002065

OCTOBER 16, 2015

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On Reflection

Reflection; the act of, not the image of, is a way of reconsidering where we are in relation to reality. Reflecting pools have for a long time been places where one could contemplate the difference between the illusion and the real. All we need is a small breeze to see the one fracture into a shimmering and fragmentary non image, while the other stays as it is. And then when stability returns we can match the upside down image to the real once again.

10-16 pool L1001925

OCTOBER 13, 2015

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Birdhouse

You know the expression; ‘I went to see a man about a dog.‘ Well on this day, we did. Gianni’s sheep dog had a litter of 10 and one of them was promised to a man who was for many years the man behind the Armani brand, now retired to a grand country estate nearby. As you can see from this dovecote, if a birdhouse can look this good imagine the rest.

He’s a kind and generous man who walked us all around his place with evident pride and pleasure. We went through woodland and pasture and vineyards and rolling hills and then through an amazing house. There was so much to see that I wanted to come back with my view camera and make some pictures that the place deserves. But for the moment these few notes are just the tip of the many places I responded to while with him.

10-13 dovecote L1001907

10-13 trees L1001950

10-13 View L1001938

But the mud/boot room takes the cake. What a holy ‘chamber,’ and for boots!

10-13 boots L1001953

OCTOBER 12, 2015

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Chairs

For many years I have come across chairs, both humble or grand, sitting out in the world waiting to be sat in or carted away. These relics have shown their personalities to me in a variety of countries and cities, and in some strange way I have become a collector of them, but to what end I never knew. Oh, yes, I’ve thought, and maybe even said to friends, “some day I’d like to put a book together with these chairs,” but it hasn’t happened yet.

While in Florence for the opening of the Leica store I mentioned in the last post, I wound my way through the back streets to get to know the place a little better. Of course the chairs found me, or I them. On that day these 2 showed up, and while I was on the streets some hand made wall messages also called out for attention.

I particularly liked the one that says, “place your hand to be tele-transported,” And I was!

10-12 Chair L1001800

10-12 Chair L1001822

10-12 Hand L1001825

10-12 Face L1001831