4/7/24

Yesterday I was able to make a portrait of Vincenzo and his son Mateo at their family property down the hill.
One of the common sights in the fields that surround Colledimezzo are small groves of olive trees. Sometimes there are a few trees, at times there are many dozen. Olives are an important export from the region and there’s a family story of an ancestral grove.
On my walks around town I have more than once tried to photograph them, but I came up short every time. In my mind’s eye is Emmet Gowin’s photo with an olive tree squarely in the center. But I’m not using a large format camera, and I think he used a helicopter. Leaving that behind, I was able to overcome my expectation.
In the evening Fred invited me to an event in town for the local chapter of Pro Loco, an organization that promotes local culture. I’m now a member which affords me discounts at cultural institutions in the area. I met a family from Kentucky who bought a house a year ago, the current mayor of Colledimezzo, and a local photographer who lives in town.