Pleasures and Passions
As a visual artist, I am drawn to photography’s uncanny potential for evoking the essence of places in such a visceral way that we are able to return to these virtual worlds again and again through our mind’s eye. Photographs become tangible manifestations of the evanescence of life—transforming the specific and ephemeral into the universal and enduring. If photography allows me to more fully engage in the present, there is no place more conducive to that sense of being alive in the moment than Italy.
In the summer of 2010, I explored Italy’s sunny southern regions, whose allure is layered with a patina of culture, history, religion and contemporary life—from the Felliniesque theatrics of Rome, to the earthy splendor of Umbria to the seaside tranquility of Puglia and Basilicata. Through these pictures, I invite you to enter the experience—to immerse your senses in the day-to-day pleasures and eternal passions of this vibrant, elemental land.