September 10, 2012
“Wisteria Lane” Ravello, Campania   We arrived on the Amalfi Coast, thinking early spring would be an ideal time to photograph the beauty of the area.  It turned out that Italy was having a warm sunny spring but that wasn’t the case along the Amalfi, especially during our week in Ravello.  The rains were hard, making it impossible to do more than seek shelter.  As soon as the rain would lighten up, we would dash down the hill from our hotel to the Villa Rufalo in hopes that the rain would stop and we could photograph the gardens and views, all the while hoping to catch the perfect light.  We’d also go the other direction from our hotel to the path that led to the Villa Cimbrone.  We were cut short on two occasions due to rain, but kept at it until we finally had a break in the weather. Villa Cimbrone was originally built on a plateau in the 11th century and came under many hands throughout  the centuries, including the church becoming a monastery.  Under different ownership yet again, the villa and gardens were updated in the 19th and 20th centuries.  The current villa, a luxury hotel and the park were “updated” with statues, fountains, temples and nymphaea, adding the romanticism of the Middle Ages to the property.  Much of the ideas for the villa, gardens and park came from frequent guest and English gardener Vita Sackville-West of the Bloomsbury Set.  “Wisteria Lane” was taken looking through the Avenue of Immensity.  The stunning branches of wisteria blooms hanging like streamers through the pergola and were breathtaking.  Due to the rain’s intensity, we walked on a carpet of various shades of lilac-colored petals our eventual encounter with Ceres in her temple.  At the end of this long covered walk, we finally came out into what should have been radiant sunshine but in fact was another gray horizon of sky and water somewhere in all that grayness.  We had reached the magnificent Terrace of Infinity.

“Wisteria Lane”
Ravello, Campania  

We arrived on the Amalfi Coast, thinking early spring would be an ideal time to photograph the beauty of the area.  It turned out that Italy was having a warm sunny spring but that wasn’t the case along the Amalfi, especially during our week in Ravello.  The rains were hard, making it impossible to do more than seek shelter.  As soon as the rain would lighten up, we would dash down the hill from our hotel to the Villa Rufalo in hopes that the rain would stop and we could photograph the gardens and views, all the while hoping to catch the perfect light.  We’d also go the other direction from our hotel to the path that led to the Villa Cimbrone.  We were cut short on two occasions due to rain, but kept at it until we finally had a break in the weather.

Villa Cimbrone was originally built on a plateau in the 11th century and came under many hands throughout  the centuries, including the church becoming a monastery.  Under different ownership yet again, the villa and gardens were updated in the 19th and 20th centuries.  The current villa, a luxury hotel and the park were “updated” with statues, fountains, temples and nymphaea, adding the romanticism of the Middle Ages to the property.  Much of the ideas for the villa, gardens and park came from frequent guest and English gardener Vita Sackville-West of the Bloomsbury Set. 

“Wisteria Lane” was taken looking through the Avenue of Immensity.  The stunning branches of wisteria blooms hanging like streamers through the pergola and were breathtaking.  Due to the rain’s intensity, we walked on a carpet of various shades of lilac-colored petals our eventual encounter with Ceres in her temple.  At the end of this long covered walk, we finally came out into what should have been radiant sunshine but in fact was another gray horizon of sky and water somewhere in all that grayness.  We had reached the magnificent Terrace of Infinity.

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August 28, 2012
L’Ombrello Rosso, Martina Franca, Puglia A classic sense of style defines the Puglese Baroque centro storico of Martina Franca in the region of Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot.  Instead of noisy crowds, Via Garibaldi is filled with the sound of raindrops and the noon bells from its 15th century Basilica di San Martino.  The vertical space in this image contrasts with the elderly gentleman’s stature, well dressed in his wool jacket and his eye-catching red umbrella. Ornate iron balconies punctuate the rust and cream baroque façades.  The town’s name, Martina Franca, is derived from its patron Saint Martin, the saint of horses and horsemen, tailors and beggars, the poor and injured, barrel makers, drunks and cured alcoholics.  The legend is that while San Martino was on horseback, he came upon a half-naked, shivering beggar.  San Martino generously tore his own cloak in half to provide the beggar some warmth. Founded in the 10th century by refugees from Taranto fleeing the Saracen attacks, today Martina Franca is a beautiful town known for its opera and wine festivals.  I think it’s particularly charming and inviting in the rain.  There’s nothing quite like standing under a nearby portico, listening to the sound of church bells ringing and raindrops hitting the ground. —-If you like our foto, please SHARE with your friends.—-

L’Ombrello Rosso, Martina Franca, Puglia

A classic sense of style defines the Puglese Baroque centro storico of Martina Franca in the region of Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot.  Instead of noisy crowds, Via Garibaldi is filled with the sound of raindrops and the noon bells from its 15th century Basilica di San Martino.  The vertical space in this image contrasts with the elderly gentleman’s stature, well dressed in his wool jacket and his eye-catching red umbrella.

Ornate iron balconies punctuate the rust and cream baroque façades.  The town’s name, Martina Franca, is derived from its patron Saint Martin, the saint of horses and horsemen, tailors and beggars, the poor and injured, barrel makers, drunks and cured alcoholics.  The legend is that while San Martino was on horseback, he came upon a half-naked, shivering beggar.  San Martino generously tore his own cloak in half to provide the beggar some warmth.

Founded in the 10th century by refugees from Taranto fleeing the Saracen attacks, today Martina Franca is a beautiful town known for its opera and wine festivals.  I think it’s particularly charming and inviting in the rain.  There’s nothing quite like standing under a nearby portico, listening to the sound of church bells ringing and raindrops hitting the ground.

—-If you like our foto, please SHARE with your friends.—-

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August 19, 2012
Town Hall, Auvers-sur-Oise, Ile de France The highlight of our trip to Paris was the day we spent with Monet and van Gogh. It was a gloriously sunny September morning in Giverny, the perfect light for the riot of dahlias and sunflowers. It was almost our dream come true, if only we could have had the gardens to ourselves. After lunch the mood shifted from beautiful blue to gloomy grey which set the tone for where we were headed. Now the suburban town of Auvers along the Oise, 27 km northwest from the center of Paris, we approached with reverence. Vincent van Gogh spent the last 70 days of his life in Auvers, under the care of Dr. Gachet, living in an attic room above the Auberge Ravoux. During those last 70 days, he painted over 80 works of the town, the surrounding fields and residents. One of my favorite paintings has always been “Auvers Town Hall 14 July 1890”. Even with the modern world encroaching, the parking lot and cars, the surrounding buildings, the “mairie” (town hall) itself remains unchanged. Even though we were not there on Bastille Day, it was still festooned with flags, which made me feel as though I was there as Vincent was painting it. I didn’t realize until we were in Auvers that he did not have his easel set up on the street but he painted it from a front window in one of the main guest bedrooms in the Auberge.

Town Hall, Auvers-sur-Oise, Ile de France

The highlight of our trip to Paris was the day we spent with Monet and van Gogh. It was a gloriously sunny September morning in Giverny, the perfect light for the riot of dahlias and sunflowers. It was almost our dream come true, if only we could have had the gardens to ourselves.

After lunch the mood shifted from beautiful blue to gloomy grey which set the tone for where we were headed. Now the suburban town of Auvers along the Oise, 27 km northwest from the center of Paris, we approached with reverence. Vincent van Gogh spent the last 70 days of his life in Auvers, under the care of Dr. Gachet, living in an attic room above the Auberge Ravoux. During those last 70 days, he painted over 80 works of the town, the surrounding fields and residents.

One of my favorite paintings has always been “Auvers Town Hall 14 July 1890”. Even with the modern world encroaching, the parking lot and cars, the surrounding buildings, the “mairie” (town hall) itself remains unchanged. Even though we were not there on Bastille Day, it was still festooned with flags, which made me feel as though I was there as Vincent was painting it. I didn’t realize until we were in Auvers that he did not have his easel set up on the street but he painted it from a front window in one of the main guest bedrooms in the Auberge.

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August 19, 2012

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(Notes: 1)
  
August 11, 2012
“TROIS TETES” - FotoAmore Foto Facts - Week 2 Despite all of life’s modern distractions, Parisians, it seems, are able to focus on one thing at a time.  How do they manage to do this?  Take the woman in this photograph.  Sitting at a small table in an outdoor café in Montmartre, she hears the sounds of buses rushing by and groups of tourists milling about in the street, but they do not distract her.  The intensity of her facial gaze clearly shows how attentively she communicating with her dining companion.  What do you look at first when you begin to look at this photograph?  I’m immediately drawn to the two-headed statue in the foreground.  The leftward angled vertical line between the heads guides one’s eye upward.  The carte signage then comes into view and you know you are clearly in France.  Jehan Doulcet was the only grocer for this section of the city in the mid 1500’s and the plaque in the background is a tribute to his legacy.  The diagonally angled lines in the upper right of the frame then draw the viewer’s eye downward toward the woman with her hand on her cheek, the subject.  Her dark curly hair outlines her face.  There are leaves behind her head that almost look like baby’s breath.  What type of encounter is she having here? The inwardly facing wisps of blonde hair in the bottom right corner of the frame add additional mystery and obscure the woman’s table slightly.  It also draws the viewer back to the two-headed statue again.  The pattern of visual discovery is a circular one.  Each time you make the circuit, you start to notice additional features.  Being a black and white image helps to accentuate the sense of undistracted emotional calm as does the woman’s relaxed but focused expression.  Peacefulness can exist within the eye of the storm - that is the message in this photograph.  The woman, our subject, is gazing off the frame to the right, which adds additional mystery.  Who is she with?  What are they talking about?  How long has she been sitting there?  What is her story?  One thing you notice when you are in Paris is the fact that while the speaking tones of the residents are relatively hushed most of the time, Parisians appear to have no difficulty in hearing each other.  Maybe we all need to slow down for a moment and to experience time passing while sitting in sidewalk café.  Order a coffee or a “verre du vin” and just sit peacefully.  After a little while, all the noise in the background finally merges into a mentally compartmental, cicada-like symphony of silence.  Then you begin to notice the little things that are happening in your life with an increased awareness.  This is mindfulness. 

“TROIS TETES” - FotoAmore Foto Facts - Week 2

Despite all of life’s modern distractions, Parisians, it seems, are able to focus on one thing at a time.  How do they manage to do this?  Take the woman in this photograph.  Sitting at a small table in an outdoor café in Montmartre, she hears the sounds of buses rushing by and groups of tourists milling about in the street, but they do not distract her.  The intensity of her facial gaze clearly shows how attentively she communicating with her dining companion. 

What do you look at first when you begin to look at this photograph?  I’m immediately drawn to the two-headed statue in the foreground.  The leftward angled vertical line between the heads guides one’s eye upward.  The carte signage then comes into view and you know you are clearly in France.  Jehan Doulcet was the only grocer for this section of the city in the mid 1500’s and the plaque in the background is a tribute to his legacy. 

The diagonally angled lines in the upper right of the frame then draw the viewer’s eye downward toward the woman with her hand on her cheek, the subject.  Her dark curly hair outlines her face.  There are leaves behind her head that almost look like baby’s breath.  What type of encounter is she having here? The inwardly facing wisps of blonde hair in the bottom right corner of the frame add additional mystery and obscure the woman’s table slightly.  It also draws the viewer back to the two-headed statue again. 

The pattern of visual discovery is a circular one.  Each time you make the circuit, you start to notice additional features.  Being a black and white image helps to accentuate the sense of undistracted emotional calm as does the woman’s relaxed but focused expression. 

Peacefulness can exist within the eye of the storm - that is the message in this photograph.  The woman, our subject, is gazing off the frame to the right, which adds additional mystery.  Who is she with?  What are they talking about?  How long has she been sitting there?  What is her story? 

One thing you notice when you are in Paris is the fact that while the speaking tones of the residents are relatively hushed most of the time, Parisians appear to have no difficulty in hearing each other.  Maybe we all need to slow down for a moment and to experience time passing while sitting in sidewalk café. 

Order a coffee or a “verre du vin” and just sit peacefully.  After a little while, all the noise in the background finally merges into a mentally compartmental, cicada-like symphony of silence. 

Then you begin to notice the little things that are happening in your life with an increased awareness.  This is mindfulness. 

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August 10, 2012
FINE ART PRINTING - A BRIEF GICLEE HISTORY LESSON Graham Nash, grew up in Salford, Lancanshire, England. He co-founded The Hollies, one of the most successful “British Invasion Groups” in the early 1960s with schoolfriend, Allan Clarke. In 1966, Nash met David Crosby and Stephen Stills during a Hollies USA tour. In 1968, he left The Holliesand formed Crosby, Stills and Nash. Neil Young joined the band in the 1970s and CSN&Y made musical history. I had the good fortune to hear Graham in concert with Crosby and Stills just recently at Ravinia in Highland Park, IL. What not everyone knows about Graham Nash is that he has been taking photographs since the age of 11 and was inspired to pursue photography by his father who was an amateur photographer. He had also amassed a significant collection of vintage and modern photography. Nash also participated actively in the historical evolution of fine art digital printing as we know it today over the past two decades. In 1991, after selling some of his photography collection at a Sotheby’s auction for for $2.17 million, Nash used part of the proceeds to form new digital printing company, NashEditions, with his tour road manager, R. Mac Holbert. They purchased a Scitex IRIS inkjet printer for about $30,000, which was “state of the art” for digital printing at the time, from Steve Boulter.  Nash also joined forces with David Coons, a color and computer scientist who had worked for Disney  Together, they also added Jack Duganne to the Nash Editions staff as a printmaker.  Duganne, a pre-med student at UCLA, became interested in art through his wife, who was a painter as well as Max Hein, a UCLA artist, who had been experimenting with primitive fine art digital printing. Jack Duggane is responsible for the term “Giclee” (pronounced zhee-klay), which is widely used to refer to ink-jet printing in the fine art world today. He didn’t like the words “ink-jet” or “computer generated” so he came up with his own term - giclee, which is loosely translated from French as “to spray” (as in to spray ink on paper or canvas). While the downside of the IRIS was print permanence – prints would fade rather quickly – it didn’t take long for larger companies (Epson, Canon, HP) to start developing their own inkjet printers. All three of them tried to match the IRIS print quality using 4-color (CMYK) dye-based inks.  Although archival quality was still relatively poor, these printers were much less expensive than the IRIS. They also did not require the need of a trained print technician to maintain and run them. Today, Epson, Canon and HP make fantastic printers that greatly surpass the print resolution, color gamut, and archival properties of the original Iris printer.   The printer we use at FotoAmore Photography was made by HP and uses 12-color print heads capable of aligning themselves, cleaning themselves, and compensating for any clogged nozzles. These printers also use stable pigmented inks instead of dye inks, so prints now have a 150+ year life. Artists and photographers can now use inkjet printing to make high quality reproductions of their original artwork, professional photographs, or computer generated art. Many artists now own and operate their own inkjet printers of various sizes to have total control of the printing process. This is the process we use today at FotoAmore to make our fine art archival photographs on canvas paper. And we have Graham Nash to personally thank for the process we utilize today.

FINE ART PRINTING - A BRIEF GICLEE HISTORY LESSON

Graham Nash, grew up in Salford, Lancanshire, England. He co-founded The Hollies, one of the most successful “British Invasion Groups” in the early 1960s with schoolfriend, Allan Clarke. In 1966, Nash met David Crosby and Stephen Stills during a Hollies USA tour. In 1968, he left The Holliesand formed Crosby, Stills and Nash. Neil Young joined the band in the 1970s and CSN&Y made musical history. I had the good fortune to hear Graham in concert with Crosby and Stills just recently at Ravinia in Highland Park, IL.

What not everyone knows about Graham Nash is that he has been taking photographs since the age of 11 and was inspired to pursue photography by his father who was an amateur photographer. He had also amassed a significant collection of vintage and modern photography. Nash also participated actively in the historical evolution of fine art digital printing as we know it today over the past two decades.

In 1991, after selling some of his photography collection at a Sotheby’s auction for for $2.17 million, Nash used part of the proceeds to form new digital printing company, NashEditions, with his tour road manager, R. Mac Holbert.

They purchased a Scitex IRIS inkjet printer for about $30,000, which was “state of the art” for digital printing at the time, from Steve Boulter.  Nash also joined forces with David Coons, a color and computer scientist who had worked for Disney  Together, they also added Jack Duganne to the Nash Editions staff as a printmaker.  Duganne, a pre-med student at UCLA, became interested in art through his wife, who was a painter as well as Max Hein, a UCLA artist, who had been experimenting with primitive fine art digital printing.

Jack Duggane is responsible for the term “Giclee” (pronounced zhee-klay), which is widely used to refer to ink-jet printing in the fine art world today. He didn’t like the words “ink-jet” or “computer generated” so he came up with his own term - giclee, which is loosely translated from French as “to spray” (as in to spray ink on paper or canvas).

While the downside of the IRIS was print permanence – prints would fade rather quickly – it didn’t take long for larger companies (Epson, Canon, HP) to start developing their own inkjet printers. All three of them tried to match the IRIS print quality using 4-color (CMYK) dye-based inks.  Although archival quality was still relatively poor, these printers were much less expensive than the IRIS. They also did not require the need of a trained print technician to maintain and run them.

Today, Epson, Canon and HP make fantastic printers that greatly surpass the print resolution, color gamut, and archival properties of the original Iris printer.   The printer we use at FotoAmore Photography was made by HP and uses 12-color print heads capable of aligning themselves, cleaning themselves, and compensating for any clogged nozzles. These printers also use stable pigmented inks instead of dye inks, so prints now have a 150+ year life.

Artists and photographers can now use inkjet printing to make high quality reproductions of their original artwork, professional photographs, or computer generated art. Many artists now own and operate their own inkjet printers of various sizes to have total control of the printing process.

This is the process we use today at FotoAmore to make our fine art archival photographs on canvas paper.

And we have Graham Nash to personally thank for the process we utilize today.

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August 10, 2012
How Artists See

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August 8, 2012
Testimonial to Photography becoming a more legitimate ArtformThis photograph, “Rhine II” by German artist Andreas Gursky was sold at a Christie’s auction last November for $4.3million. It is reportedly the highest sum ever paid for a photograph. What is it about this photograph that makes so valuable? The image was called “a sludgy image of the grey Rhine under grey skies” by an art critic wit h The Guardian right after the photo sold. “The desolate featureless landscape…is no accident: Gursky explained in an interview that it is his favourite picture: ‘It says a lot using the most minimal means…for me it is an allegorical picture about the meaning of life and how things are.’” Christie’s described it as “a dramatic and profound reflection on human existence and on our relationship to nature on the cusp of the 21st century.” Any intrusive features were digitally removed by the artist - dog walkers, cyclists, a factory building - until it was bleak enough to satisfy him.One of the most important components of good visual design lies in the emotional content of an artwork and the level of impact it has on the viewer. Some call this the “wow factor.” Clearly, Gursky had a strong message to convey and he chose to do so in this manner. In my mind, he was successful. The beautifully printed image is a contemporary twist on the traditional German romantic theme of man’s relationship with nature. The horizontal lines imply a peacefulness, but the lack of strong colors and lack of other features add tension to this calm and help to tell the bleak story he intends for us to hear through his vision.The next highest amount paid for a photograph was $3.9MM in May, 2011 for a Cindy Sherman work.

Testimonial to Photography becoming a more legitimate Artform

This photograph, “Rhine II” by German artist Andreas Gursky was sold at a Christie’s auction last November for $4.3million. It is reportedly the highest sum ever paid for a photograph. 

What is it about this photograph that makes so valuable? The image was called “a sludgy image of the grey Rhine under grey skies” by an art critic wit

h The Guardian right after the photo sold. 

“The desolate featureless landscape…is no accident: Gursky explained in an interview that it is his favourite picture: ‘It says a lot using the most minimal means…for me it is an allegorical picture about the meaning of life and how things are.’” Christie’s described it as “a dramatic and profound reflection on human existence and on our relationship to nature on the cusp of the 21st century.” 

Any intrusive features were digitally removed by the artist - dog walkers, cyclists, a factory building - until it was bleak enough to satisfy him.

One of the most important components of good visual design lies in the emotional content of an artwork and the level of impact it has on the viewer. Some call this the “wow factor.” Clearly, Gursky had a strong message to convey and he chose to do so in this manner. In my mind, he was successful. The beautifully printed image is a contemporary twist on the traditional German romantic theme of man’s relationship with nature. The horizontal lines imply a peacefulness, but the lack of strong colors and lack of other features add tension to this calm and help to tell the bleak story he intends for us to hear through his vision.

The next highest amount paid for a photograph was $3.9MM in May, 2011 for a Cindy Sherman work.

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August 6, 2012
FotoAmore Foto Facts

New this week: “FotoAmore Foto Facts!” We will be critiquing and sharing artistic commentary about a different image in our collection each week . Today’s edition: “La Musica Morta” in Bergamo, Italy. Stay tuned!

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August 4, 2012
“La Musica Morta” is a foto of the final tomb of Maestro Gaetano Donizetti, in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo’s beautiful Citta’ Alta.  Bergamo has been a favorite stop of ours since 1995.  Its proximity to Milano and Lake Como make it an enchanting place to spend a day or two.  Donizetti, born in 1797 in Bergamo, spent the early part of his career in Naples where by 1830 he had taken the opera world by storm.  He moved on to Vienna and finally, to Paris. By 1843 he was exhibiting symptoms of what appeared to be syphilis, what they think now of as being bi-polar disease.  He tragically spent his last years in Paris in the grips of insanity before being brought home to Bergamo to die at age 51 in 1848.  The bel canto operas written by the maestro, in particular Lucia di Lammermoor and Daughter of the Regiment have always been among my favorites.  The tomb of Donizetti is close to my heart even though it breaks my heart. On the frieze below the piano on the monument are seven “putti” who are actively destroying their instruments because the music is dead, “la musica e morta”, the statue of the muse above sits in sorrow.  It’s a poignant monument to a musical genius and one that Craig and I visit each time we’re in Bergamo.

“La Musica Morta” is a foto of the final tomb of Maestro Gaetano Donizetti, in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo’s beautiful Citta’ Alta.  Bergamo has been a favorite stop of ours since 1995.  Its proximity to Milano and Lake Como make it an enchanting place to spend a day or two.  Donizetti, born in 1797 in Bergamo, spent the early part of his career in Naples where by 1830 he had taken the opera world by storm.  He moved on to Vienna and finally, to Paris. By 1843 he was exhibiting symptoms of what appeared to be syphilis, what they think now of as being bi-polar disease.  He tragically spent his last years in Paris in the grips of insanity before being brought home to Bergamo to die at age 51 in 1848.  The bel canto operas written by the maestro, in particular Lucia di Lammermoor and Daughter of the Regiment have always been among my favorites.  The tomb of Donizetti is close to my heart even though it breaks my heart. On the frieze below the piano on the monument are seven “putti” who are actively destroying their instruments because the music is dead, “la musica e morta”, the statue of the muse above sits in sorrow.  It’s a poignant monument to a musical genius and one that Craig and I visit each time we’re in Bergamo.

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