Having a good time on Lake Como
ABOUT ME
I was born and I have always lived in Northwestern Italy, whose regions - Aosta Valley, Piedmont, Liguria and Lombardy - are the ones I image in my photos. I love all that is colorful, like landscapes and modern painting. It was the passion for modern painting that led me to photography, which I love, more than for its documentary and descriptive aspects, for the chromatic, formal and existential ones.
I am a hopeless romantic. If you meet me in the mountains, by the sea or under a starry sky, you would probably see me staring into space. I seem dazed, but I am not: I am actually immersing myself in that feeling of existential fullness that certain places can evoke.
I am passionate about poetry and literature, and deeply interested in whatever ties them to photography.
I am also an astrophysicist involved in scientific research and outreach in the fields of stellar evolution, extrasolar planets and the search for life in the Universe.
I published photographs on eminent magazines in Italy and abroad (eg Meridiani, Traveller, Bell’Italia), held photography courses and several exhibitions. I work with the top-quality photo agency Simephoto (www.simephoto.com). In 2021 I published the book (with Italian and English texts) “Lost in the Aosta Valley - An Epic Photographic Journey” (ed. Simebooks), dedicated to the Aosta Valley region where I currently live.
ABOUT THE NAME OF THIS WEBSITE
Why did I choose the name “northwesternphotos” for this website?
Because it is about Northwestern Italy, of course. But not only that.
NORTH reminds me of the north wind, that often results in glorious, crystal-clear days in Northwestern Italy, thanks to the protective shield of the Alps. When the weather forecast says that the north wind is about to come, I feel excited and grab my camera …
Moreover, to the northermost regions of the sky are dedicated these sublime verses by W. B. Yeats:
“I have been a hazel-tree, and they hung
The Pilot Star and the Crooked Plough
Among my leaves in times out of mind …“
(W. B. Yeats, He Thinks of His Past Greatness when a Part of the Constellations of Heaven)
Here, the Pilot Star is the Polar Star, and the Crooked Plough is the Big Dipper, part of the Ursa Major constellation.
WEST is rich in literary reminiscences, too. For example, think of the Ode to the West Wind by P. B. Shelley.
Enjoy!
A sunny, beautiful day on Lake Como with the wind blowing from the north