VENICE – I got up early, packed a toothbrush and clean underwear into a backpack and took a train to Venice and checked into the Gritti Palace – an overnight side trip based on tips from Italian friends that the Venice Biennale is a must see this year. Indeed it is. There’s a theme this year: art and obsessive compulsive disorder (my paraphrase). Very cool. I spent the day touring the national exhibits in the Gardini. All images with my Monochrom and 50mm Asph. lens, except the last one which was taken with my iPhone.
Venice!Biannale IBiannale 3Biannale 2Biannale 4Biannale 5Biannale 6
On this day last year: Dinner party. The vintage Venini object in the foreground was subsequently broken when Basil the Norwich Terrier jumped up on the table to scrounge food. The perils of pet ownership.
MILAN – A day walking around here in intense heat. I complain about Milan – it really is not the world’s most interesting place visually – but the images from today turned out to be interesting. All with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm Asph. lens.
Stone womanDuetsche BankStatueGraffiti
TODI – Another good day for photography here. The only sunflower in Umbria (they are late blooming this year); road signs; a cemetery; Malaysian junk food; and our host in Todi. All taken with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm lens.
The only sunflowerIzzaliniMemorialSquid snacksKimball
TODI – A great day for photography here. A still life with an erotic eggplant; Maria; a flower pot; the pool. All with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm lens.
AubergineMariaPotMaria’s natural habitat
WEST OF CORTINA – We hiked today through a company of Alpini training on the rock faces above us. They wished not to be photographed. We ran into some fairly threatening weather but didn’t get all that wet. Black and white images taken with my Leica Monochrom; the one color images from the trip is from my Leica M.
Storm on the trailDolomitesLunchMy only color
SAN CASSIANO – We’ve stayed two nights in this lovely town – in major part because of the marvelous hotel here, Rosa Alpini. We had a chance to get to know the owner, Hugo Pizzinini and his family, and Norbert Niederkofler, the Michelin two star chef who runs the restaurant in the hotel. All images taken with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm Summichron Asph. lens.
Hugo at a lunch that he provided in his family’s hut on the alp above San Cassiano.
