Landscape Photography in Chianti - Tuscany
The Chianti area of Tuscany is a small, homogeneous and defined geographical region, located in the heart of the Tuscan hills, between the provinces of Florence and Siena.
This area has an extraordinary, varied and pleasant landscape, one of the most iconic in the world. A landscape with a harsh and generous character. Although it is repeated in its general lines, with a continuous alternation of woods, vineyards and olive groves, this place is never equal to itself.
It is a landscape, so to speak, made by hand, with a spade and a hoe, by countless generations of men. This is the agricultural landscape of the Tuscan sharecropper, with its rural geometries, with the farmhouses and mixed cultivation, terraces and dry stone walls.
Chianti is not a natural environment, it is a hilly area made up of poor and stony soils, decidedly unfavorable to agriculture, which entire families of peasants, over the course of many centuries with the strength of their arms, have managed to tame.
This is a series of images taken during autumn, the season that more than any other, brings us back all the poetry of Chianti landscapes.
Campo Imperatore - The little Italian Tibet
Exploring the Italian Apennines with a Camper van.
In this second stage of the exploration of the Italian Apennines, Florence and I decided to photograph the plateau of Campo Imperatore in the province of Aquila in Abruzzo.
Given the wild and non-anthropized nature of the area in question, we chose to move with our van, which for the two of us is the ideal way to travel. Great sense of freedom, low cost and above all the possibility of sleeping near the places you want to photograph before dawn.
Campo Imperatore is often called the "little Italian Tibet" due to its particular geography. A karst plateau at an altitude of 1800m, surrounded by the highest peaks of the Italian Apennines where winters are long and extremely snowy.
The idea of this gallery is to give you a sense of the place and maybe inspire you one day to visit it in person.
Although this area is one of the wildest corners of Europe, its access is relatively easy since it is only a 2-hour drive from Rome.
Sibillini Mountains National Park
This year I decided to buy a van to fully explore my country Italy. I always thought there would be time, even when I was older to travel in my country.
Then came the pandemic with the Lockdowns and all the travel restrictions that we all have experienced.
The first location of this long one-year trip to Italy was the Sibillini Mountains National Park in Italy, which includes the homonymous mountain range, extends for about thirty kilometers in the heart of the Central Apennines and the surrounding hills. Its territory falls within the Marche region and in a small portion of the Umbria region.
Here, the powerful action of nature and the activity of man, present in these places for millennia, are the basis of the extraordinary landscape, naturalistic and historical-cultural richness of the Park.
Of the many villages that are part of the park, the most characteristic is undoubtedly Castelluccio di Norcia, a village that seems to have come out of a dream. During my visit in July 2021 the village was still a heap of rubble caused by the strong earthquake of 2016. Luckily the warm locals adapted well by organizing themselves to receive the hordes of visitors during the famous "Fioritura" (lentils bloom).
This is one of the best known and most important events in the whole region; A historical, cultural and naturalistic event much appreciated by tourists and traditionally maintained by the locals: the flowering of Castelluccio in the "Piana Grande". A wonder of nature, a triumph of colors that is renewed every year, between June and July.
Unfortunately during my visit the best of flowering had already passed ... all the more reason that will definitely keep me coming back next season.
Travel Photography in India
India fascinates, India attracts. Sometimes makes you angry, but surely it never leaves you indifferent.
India is a country of strong contrasts due to a complex society, made up of wealth and opulence on one hand, and extreme poverty on the other. Despite this, the beauty of life is constantly celebrated through its outstanding notes and colors.
Music is omnipresent, from rattles on women's feet to litanies from temples. The sparkling pallettes of the saris and the bright colors of the turbans, color the streets and villages.
In short, a trip to India is a concentration of unique and deep experiences, both for its incomparable landscapes, for its trembling megalopolises or for unexpected encounters.
This is a condensation of my best travel photos from India during my four visits. I hope you will like them ...
Landscape Photography - Costa dei Trabocchi in Abruzzo
The Trabocchi Coast, embodies all the charm that often accompany the seaside of Italy: history and origins. In this case of the Abruzzo region heritage.
The protagonists here are the trabocchi. Ancient fishing machines, installed on stilts and connected to the mainland through narrow and disconnected piers, stretching out towards the sea, like gigantic wooden spiders burned by the sun and salt.
Street Photography in Fez - Morocco
Fez, the oldest of the imperial cities can be defined as the symbol city of Morocco.
I stayed in the city for only two days, too little to go deeply into it and document some aspects of its centenary traditions.
I got carried away without specific plans, comfortable shoes and my little Ricoh gr in hand, approaching street photography in Fez.
Travel Photography in Marrakesh - Morocco
Once a destination for camel caravans from the south, the oasis of Marrakesh was in the past, the most beautiful location many travelers had ever seen.
Ocher in color and founded almost a thousand years ago, Marrakesh is one of the major cities of Maghreb and definitely one of the most interesting for travel photography in north Africa. It's spectacular geographical position, with the backdrop of the snow-capped peaks of the High Atlas, offers to travelers a vision of rare beauty.
Morocco - Journeying through the Maghreb jewel
I traveled to Morocco in 2020, taking advantage of the low cost flight route Pisa - Marrakesh. A small fiat panda accompanied me and my partner Florence for 3 weeks.
We started from Marrakesh and then up towards Ait Benhaddou crossing the Atlas. Impressive landscapes on the way. Then, Ouarzazate, the spectacular Dades valley, Imichil, Ifrane, Meknes up to Fez and then down to Fez
Being used to traveling mainly in South Asia (which remains the part of the world I love most) I must be honest that the Moroccan experience was surprising for travel photography given the great variety of landscapes, but more difficult than usually on the human side.
Morocco is divided in two by the mountains. Frosty climates and peaks covered in snow and ice collide with hot, dry areas such as the Western Sahara. These extremes have created a multitude of cultures and great civilizations, whose traces remain alive in the fascinating cities.
Street Photography in Yangon
Yangon: the most cosmopolitan, multiethnic and interesting city in Myanmar. Located in the center of the country, on the banks of a wide river, Yangon is constantly immersed in a picturesque chaos of different styles and cultures.
This city is full of neighborhoods with old and dilapidated buildings. Everything seems to have been shaken by an earthquake!
Yangon is one of the most exotic and surprising cities in all of Southeast Asia for street photography. Here the people still walk around in flip-flops and despite the pace of a big city they prefer a rather relaxed lifestyle.
Travel Photography in Myanmar
Myanmar is a country that is different from any other land. Here, globalization has not yet taken deep roots.
Of course, the change has begun and it can be seen above all in the capital Yangon. It remains a fact that "the land of gold" has experienced a long isolation by the international community which has helped preserve its unique culture.
Among golden pagodas, spectacular landscapes and lived traditions, a traveler will find intense peculiarities in a country where Buddhism permeates everyday life.
Negombo Fish Market
On my first trip to Sri Lanka I spent one night in the city of Negombo. Given the proximity to the international airport of Colombo it is a valid alternative to the chaotic capital.
The city extends along a large lagoon and for this reason fishing is one of the main activities.
One of the most interesting things for a travel photographer in Negombo is in fact going to the fish market early in the morning, when it is still dark.
Dozens of fishing boats unload their catch. The atmosphere is chaotic, the smell of fish nauseating and people run from side to side shouting until all the catch is unloaded from the boats and sold on the spot.
Life in Kampot - Travel Photography in Cambodia
The charming town of Kampot, located on the north bank of the Teuk Chhou River, boasts one of the most beautiful frames in Cambodia.
Kampot was once an active commercial port and still today, is inhabited by a large community of Chinese. Their single-storey houses without stilts, are in contrast with the typical Khmer homes, and the beautiful colonial shop houses.
During weekends, the city becomes a favorite destination for Cambodians and foreigners residing in Phnom Penh.
Kampot has a very relaxed lifestyle, which invites you to take it slow...
Even if it does not boast real tourist attractions, in my opinion, Kampot is one of the nicest towns in Southeast Asia. The ideal destination to stop a few days and walk in peace without a precise goal.
Simien Mountains - The roof of Africa
Simien, which in Amharic means "the north", is an area still intact, little known and frequented; it gathers in a unique and fascinating whole the most evocative African landscapes: sharp spiers, pinnacles and deep erosions that keep the traveler between amazement and vertigo.
These mountains of volcanic origin, were eroded over time by the wind and water of the rivers. Shaping this tormented and spectacular landscapes.
The geographic isolation of these mountains has allowed the evolution of unique living species; both vegetable and animal.
The symbol of these mountains is undoubtedly the gelada monkey. These picturesque vegetarian primates live in the vicinity of cliffs and precipices, places that discourage predators and allow a safe shelter among the rocks.
Travel Photography in Harar - Ethiopia
Harar is a colorful and messy Muslim holy city. Of all the Ethiopian cities that I have visited, Harar is certainly the most intriguing from the unbanistic point of view.
Entering the ancient city through the Shewa gate we are swallowed up in a sea of white, muffled, blinding and with uncertain borders ...
The modest houses which give the city a bright aspect are repainted every year before Ramadam.
This fascinating city that rises on the south-eastern slopes of the Ahmer mountains has very little in common with other Ethiopian cities: in fact, in addition to having a different language and culture, it was for centuries an exclusively Islamic center that maintained cultural and commercial relations with Yemen and other regions of Arabia.
In the past, entry to the city was allowed only to Muslims. In fact the first European allowed to enter was Richard Burton who in 1854 was a guest of the emir for 10 days.
Harar is also the fourth holiest city in the Islamic world after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. Here resides the largest Muslim community of Ethiopia.
Despite the enormous commercial importance it held in the horn of Africa, Harar remained unknown to Europeans until the early nineteenth century as it was not even indicated in the maps of the area: it entered Western history only thanks to the reports provided by the Ethiopian merchant Raymat Allah and by the explorer Burton in 1880.