To be or not to be [blogging]

D300 - 12 mm, 1/15 sec f/4.0, ISO 2000

Dear readers, friends, thank you.
I should really put an end to this silence and start posting again. The renowned light at the end of the tunnel is not a requirement for moving on.

For the curious, this photo was taken in Rome underneath the basilica of S. Clemente.

When in NYC

D300 - 46 mm, 1/200 sec f/5, ISO 200

There is no better way to feel one's own ignorance

than confrontation.

Untitled

D300 - 105 mm, 1/250 sec f/22, ISO 200

Impulses turned into images.

Out of office

D300 - 105mm, 1/250 sec f/8, ISO 200

Worries

hooked up to an innocent wall.

This is what a vacation is all about.

Summer mood

Today it was a tough day, and I spare you the details. When I got back home I felt the urge to play music again. While tuning my cello after many years of inactivity I broke 1 string. Stubborn as never before, I went on tuning the instrument, carelessly planning on playing with three strings and I broke another one.
All things conjuring up against me? No, it is only an unmistakable sign I need a break. Hopefully a relaxing one.

P.S. I know.. this is no poetry nor anything insightful but don't I deserve a little rant every now and then?

A lesson for the ego

D300 - 12 mm, 1/160 f/16, ISO 200

In the shadows of a sunny day

I spotted a pattern.

Simple and shallow it seemed

but who am I to judge?

Exhibition

As some of you suggested either in person or on some FB/email/chat/.. whatever, I recently participated to a local photography contest and apparently a couple of my shots have been selected for a "real" exhibition. Those of you keen on flying to a gorgeous spot on the Italian Riviera may meet me here on Sunday, July 25th.

Salty flowers

I bet you never thought capers were so beautiful.

How

Dear Readers,

there would be many things I could blame for not writing anymore. Situations, feelings, people... you name them. But there is no excuse for choices, and projection - that is blaming the "outer" world - is one of those habits we so gladly indulge in.
So here I am, back on the trail. Anybody for a walk?

The absence

D300 - 100 mm, 1/400 sec f/11, ISO 200

Of the many days we shared
I am left with unfocused images,
indistinct tastes
and a hardened heart.

Yet this chant from the past has no consistency
all it takes is a single instant
to wake up
and smile.

Far and near: Ten

D300 - 12 mm, 1/200 sec f/20, ISO 200

Grounded to the ancient sands...
treading in the footsteps of others.

Strawberry girl

Time is not easily tracked...
by the shifting of the sand.

Strawberry girl

Sands of time, barely marked
by our passing.

piacere

We'd better think of the past like footsteps on sand:
as vivid as they may seem, they are completely inconsistent.

A. Chincarini

Memento

D300 - 12 mm, 1/160 sec f/13, ISO 200

Smile to yourself in a rainy day.

The sun is just above the clouds.

Far and near

So..... there we go again. My apologies to all my faithful readers for I have been rather absent from the blogosphere lately. Hopefully this new "challenge" will stir your imagination (and mine) well enough. Enjoy it here, for the deadline is on Saturday, May 16th.

Dreamtime

D300 - 145 mm, 1/400 sec f/7.1, ISO 200

I am very slowly agreeing with the definition the aboriginal people of Australia give to our reality: "the dreamtime".

Half

D300 - 105 mm, 1/80 sec f/2.8, ISO 200

Here I am,

perpetuating the separation of good and bad,

believing my ego is too big to be beaten

and not realizing that "I" isn't really me.

Corners

D300 - 12 mm, 1/100 sec f/22, ISO 640

Cornered, in a seemingly real existence

if only we could remember

our timeless and shared

happiness.

Reciprocity

D300 - 12 mm, 1/125 sec f/4.0, ISO 400

Men measure Time,

Time measures men.

Hangover from a "Bilder einer Ausstellung"

D300 - 300 mm, 1/250 sec f/4.0, ISO 1250

The boundary between photography, painting and dream has seldom been as blurred as in the recent exhibition (Seravezza, Italy, April 4th - June 7th, 2009) by Anke Merzbach. I must say it was my first approach to her work and I found it rather disturbing. Her very personal approach to photography and her superb technique in processing images cannot go unnoticed. This picture here is a very personal remake of her style, based on my memories of the event.

Interlude XI

Thomas Campion - If thou long'st so much to learne

"... Salamander-like with fire"

For my Italian friends

For the sake of coherence, I moved all italian blog links to my new blog, so that cross referencing can be done within the same language framework. Please update your own links to the new site if you see fit.

The dusty lens

D300 - 24 mm, 1/80 sec f/2.8, ISO 640

It makes me believe I'm seeing

what I'm only imagining.

For my Italian friends

La regola dei terzi

I hope you'll enjoy it ...

Patterns

D300 - 100 mm, 1/400 sec f/11, ISO 200

Repeating schemes hiding

the inconveniences of our inner chaos.

Unimaginative temporary

solace.

IT version

Hypnotic

D70 - 70 mm, 1.5 sec f/6.7, ISO 200

Soaking my mind

into rivers of green.

IT version

The monoped

D300 - 100 mm, 1/8 sec f/32, ISO 100

Behold, my friends, one of the most incredible discoveries of all time! A new species of humanoid has been recorded by my most advanced photographic tools, a species which I am now honored to name: monoped. Yes, once seen in their true form they are horrid to our eyes, but they manage to mingle among us probably because of some telepathic abilities.
It is still unclear how these species has evolved and I call upon you experts to find a convincing theory.
Preening, mating and mimetic abilities will be studied soon...

IT version

Under a quiet moon

D300 - 12 mm, 15 sec f/4.0, ISO 200

Under a quiet moon,

on my uneasy feet

I wait

for the silence outside

to melt my frozen self.

IT version

The earthquake

D70 - 70 mm, 1/180 sec f/5.6, ISO 200

Basilica di S. Maria di Collemaggio, L'Aquila, Italy.

Honoring the people and the beauty God's will bestowed to the unique region of L'Aquila, the eagle.

Memory is not enough
to hold colors,
laughs and smells.
Not even stones are dead
until you can only see them
through the inadequate eye
of a dusty lens.

IT version

Far and near: Nine

D70 - 105 mm, 1/320 sec f/8, ISO 640

Cotton candy, moth balls, crystalline, silver whiteness make-believe.
Trees whispering and walking in a land of fantasy and reality.

Judith Ellis

Summer and winter, love and hate:
Often they seem the same to me.

Maggie Quam

Storms of emotions, like candyfloss
So sweet, yet so dangerous.

Annina

Wind, frozen in time, captured in mid flight.
Angry at being caught, turned to the hard crystal stillness of ice.

Annie

In your spun sugar dreams,
Stray liquorice sticks in bloom fade into venerability.

Nathalie Boisard-Beudin

Growing against a colorless grain
The orchard bears nought but grey-shrouded pain.

Leslie

Sometimes dreams are woven
not in the sky, but on the ground.

Piacere

Ready to receive,
from the generous earth,
to the generous earth.

Claudia Turolla

Under springtime Sun
Earth is the bride.

A. Chincarini

Dream in green

D300 - 62 mm, 1/200 sec f/2.8m ISO 200

Don't you dare ask me the dream in red....

IT version

Becalmed

D300 - 105 mm, 1/250 sec f/22, ISO 200

Slivers of truth

like sunlight glares appear

on this blurred sea

where I sail.

Seeking.

IT version

Drawbacks of these times

D300 - 70 mm, 1/160 sec f/8, ISO 640

Don't ask me what's written here. I don't know. I simply liked the sheer beauty of calligraphy on this old stone piece.
What I do know though is that I did feel a certain reluctance in liking it. Surely Japanese writing wouldn't have stirred this uneasiness. It surfaced to my mind without my knowledge and floated there until I acknowledged it.
The origin of this feeling is fear. Fear of another culture, an unpopular one, charged with aggressiveness, impenetrable to our values, supremely darkened by hideous events.
This is a shadow in our mind, a stain in our soul. Let it be washed away by the same Love that created us all.

Far and near

May your poet inside
be now ready to fight
and if newcomers come
let them try, I don't bite!

Those who dwell on this sphere
let me summon you all
Let the game begin here,
and then let it not fall...

[deadline is on April 5th, 2009]

Aquamarine: spirit

D300 - 105 mm, 1/320 f/8, ISO 800

Shall the spirit be round?
It's a question so deep,
an idea so profound
I'll be fallen asleep
ere an answer is found...

Unlikely perspectives

D300 - 12 mm, 1/30 sec f/4.0, ISO 1600

Twisted and alien seems the world

seen by foreign eyes.

Aquamarine: body

D300 - 105 mm, 1/320 sec f/11, ISO 800

Amazing what one can do with some sugar crystals and a sheet of colored paper... (oh.. I forgot adding an expensive camera, an even more expensive lens, the aid of a better than average lighting, time, passion and - last but not least - a home made liquor whose sugar residues on the jar bottom can be seen in this picture).

Kitchen flowers

D300 - 50 mm, 1/40 sec f/2.8, ISO 800

The only things they'll need to bloom
are a friendly smile
and a bit of wine.

Sexual habits of the rich and the poor

D300 - 105 mm, 1/200 sec f/2.8, ISO 400

Bon appétit...

Smiling Merlot

D300 - 105 mm, 1/200 sec f/2.8, ISO 400

A friend of mine complained about the recent lack of color photography: "Too much B&W! It makes me sad" she said. I am therefore thinking of shooting a series of colors, trying to capture one of the many meanings conveyed by them. Well... at least this is the intent.
The first one is this picture, "smiling merlot". Why the yellow? Up to your keen minds, the task to find an answer.

Nameless

D300 - 24 mm, 1/160 sec f/18, ISO 200

In the sun I hide

in shadow I disappear,

no matter how much I try

loneliness finds me,

as if it were my only friend.

Interlude X

J.S. Bach - Cantatas : "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"

How can our spirit die, for it was created eternal?
By forgetting what it is.

Waiting for...

D300 - 300 mm, 1/340 sec f/11, ISO 200

In time I have found

the meaning of my impatience,

justification to my efforts,

the emptiness of illusions.

But what I'm waiting for still eludes me

and it isn't a matter of time.

Horizon

D300 - 100 mm, 1/400 sec f/25, ISO 500

We often live as if we had a whole life ahead of us.

This is utterly false. We have eternity.

Far and near: Eight

D70 - 80 mm, 1/2500 sec f/25, ISO 200

One by one they opened their eyes
And found they could see in the dark.

Catherine Vibert

Reflections of light on deep dark waters
symbols whose key has long been lost.

Anonymous

Fish of light,
Swaying with the wind.

Nathalie Boisard-Beudin

Remembrance of first light
never fades.

Piacere

Constantly and everywhere we are reminded
we are but thought.

A. Chincarini

Architecture

D300 - 12 mm, 1/40 sec f/4, ISO 1000

It is a game of forces

sustaining our realities,

agreement of minds dreaming of their being.

How great an ingenuity

for a meaningless building.

A former lover

D70 - 300 mm, 1/30 sec f/5.6, ISO 200

Feelings, resurfacing

only to quickly hide

behind the thick curtain of conventionality.

Far and near

Dear readers,
here we go again with another "far&near" call for inspiration. This time I chose a rather difficult shot: it is the picture of sunlight reflecting off the water of a small mountain stream. Abstract images aren't easy to grasp, so it's ok if you won't come up with anything.
That said, deadline for this issue is set to March, 8th 2009.

Merry thinking

A.

On flowing

D70 - 80 mm, 1/15 sec f/11, ISO 200

I am sure somebody trained in the most subtle ways of the mind could say why we are attracted to specific photographic subjects. Not that I would believe this oracle without questioning it further, and surely not without a thorough investigation of its reasoning.
First things first. While browsing through my early shots I [re]discovered the feeling towards water and air. Only rarely have I taken pictures of other elements, and even more rarely of living creatures. This attraction/repulsion surely has a deep meaning, which I am not aware of.
Those of you who can see through it are kindly requested to send their pitiless diagnosis per email, least exposing the deepest recesses of my mind to the public...
To cut a long post short, I''ll be posting a bit of wind and water soon enough :-)

Purposeless

D70 - 70 mm, 1/250 sec f/8.0, ISO 200

I cannot stop my wandering through funny lands,

daydreaming

what a waste of time

... ?

Interlude IX

H. Purcell - If love's a sweet pleasure

".. yet so easy the pain is, so soft is the dart
that at once it both wounds me and tickles my heart."

What needs to be done

D300 - 24 mm, 1/40 sec f/4.0, ISO 1000

In stillness I feel my oneness.

There I must forgive myself.

Day 9 [3/4]

Madeira

Primary, honest colors
painted on cosy shapes of a recent past,
echoing an unfamiliar language,
talking about genuine people.

Geometry

D300 - 18 mm, 1/125 sec f/10, ISO 250

Maybe, by chance

I bumped into you, idly dwelling in untrodden fields.

I seek you now like a thirsty man,

like a lover

looking for the beloved face

in every smile he meets.