Senso di Posto, Italy in the 1980s
Italy may seem timeless, but the fountain needs repair and the bella figura in turquoise shawl on the cover does not always appear when you need her. The first rule for a photographer is to BE there.
Senso di Posto, Italy in the 1980s A Portfolio, Travelogue & Commentary
Clare Brett Smith
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Senso di Posto, Italy in the 1980s Photographs and Text by Clare Brett Smith copyright Š 2012 Clare Brett Smith all rights reserved 80 Mountain Spring Road Farmington, Connecticut 06032 United States of America
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SENSO DI POSTO or a SENSE OF PLACE, was the name of a series of month-long photography workshops I taught at the Studio Art Centers International in Florence between 1984 and 1989. I was as much a student as the young artists in my class, although I did know a lot about the techniques and properties of what is now an old-fashioned way of taking photographs. I used film and chemicals, and even sometimes an antique 4x5 view camera, and, for special effects, a Widelux panorama camera, as well as my usual two Nikon 35mm single lens reflex cameras. I understand now why teaching is a fiercely effective way to learn, as I had to explain in words what I was seeing and how to match that to technique. I had no planned narrative for the class nor for myself, only what I saw. There was a lot to see, architecture, vistas. sculpture, and oddly attractive details, and I had the luxury of time to look. Clare Brett Smith, January 2012
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Reflection in a Fiat’s rear window,1984 4
Palazzo Vecchio from inside and below,1984
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Duomo Detail,1984
Tub,Via del Ronco,1985
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Ponte Vecchio,1984 8
Palazzo Vecchio,1984 9
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Battistero, Florence,1984
Shop on the Ponte Vecchio,1984
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Boboli Gardens,1984 12
Ponte Vecchio,1984 13
Facade of San Lorenzo Church,1984 14
Persimmons,Via del Ronco,1984 15
Oltrarno,1984
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Boboli Gardens,1984
Pegasus,Boboli Gardens,1984
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Uffizi Gallery,Florence,1984 20
Siena,1985
Pian di Sco,1985 21
Remembering in 1984,The Bicycle Thief, Fellini’s 1948 film 22
The Arno in rain,1984 23
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The Duomo,Florence,at night,1985
Duomo by day,1985
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Uffizi Galleries,1984
Opposite the Central Market, Florence, 1984
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Cellini’s Perseus,Florence,1984
Doorway to the garden, Via del Ronco,1984
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Fish market,Florence,1984 30
Bruno’s Bar,Florence,1984 31
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Fiesole Garden,1985
San Spirito Church, 1985
San Giovanni,1985
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Vicenza, Palladian villas of the Veneto, 1987
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Chianti Vineyards,1985
On the Arno,1984 37
Bronze boar,Cinghiale,symbol of Firenze 38
The real thing, in Pian di Sco, 1984
Gypsies,Florence,1984
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Pisa,1987
San Gimignano,1987
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Orvieto,1985
Orvieto,1985
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Rome,1984
Rome,1984
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Rome,1984
Rome,1984
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Spanish Steps, Rome,1984
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Florence,1985
Rome,1984
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About people and their faces as much as places: Venetian carnival mask
Marble torso,Florence,1989
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Neptune,Venice,1985 54
Pian di Sco,1985 55
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Montova,1987
Pian di Sco,1984
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Pian di Sco,1984
Pian di Sco,1984
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Fiesole,1985
Courtship,Florence,1985
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Pian di Sco, the shopkeeper’s daughter and the baker’s wife,1985
Buyng cheese,San Giovanni,1985
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Florentine policewoman,1984
Barista,Florence,1984
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Young wives,Pian di Sco,1985
Young men, Pian di Sco,1985
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Tourists, Florence,1989
Tourists,Piazza Navarone,Rome,1985
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Montova,1987
Montova,1987 70
Lucca,1984
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Piano diSco, Veterans’ Day. 1984
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SACI student,1985
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Electrician,1985
Everyday theater, LIMONI!, San Giovanni,1985
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Violin maker, Florence,1988
Baker,Pian di Sco,1987
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Spring plowing,Figline,1987
Lunch in an olive grove,1987
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Rome,1985
Torcello,1985
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Saint Mark’s,Venice,1985
Saint Mark’s,Venice,1985
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Venice,1985
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Fishnets over the Arno,Marina di Pisa,1987
Burano,1985
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Venice,1985
Venice,1985
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Capri,1987
Capri,1987
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Naples,1987
Faragliones,Capri,1987
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Capri,1987
The Senso di Posto photographs were meant to reveal the character of a place, and I stayed close to the assignment myself, but by the second year, most of my pictures were of faces, not places. Surrounded by art, architecture and history, people seemed as much the place as the stones. As I put this book together, I was surprised that my best pictures were almost all in those first two years when everything was new. Maybe first sight is the strongest? Perhaps I was beginning to feel uncomfortable spending so much time on purely personal development. By 1986 I was more and more involved with Aid to Artisans as its new president, and I was managing artisan projects in Honduras, Haiti and Ghana, a more obviously useful kind of life. The interlude in Italy was a magical gift, and I will always be grateful to Jules Maidoff, the Director and founder of SACI, for his friendship and generosity, for the fun of teaching, for a chance to live in a world of art, and for encouraging my family to visit. Burge came, several times, and Richard, Sandy, Marcie and John. I’m glad they had a chance to share my great good fortune. C.B.S. 95
Jules in his studio,Pian di Sco,1984
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Clare in Lucca, 1984
Senso di Posto. Italy in the 1980s, a combination of portfolio, travelogue and memoir is not as personal and familyoriented as most of my books, so it might be of more general interest. My other public books, along with this one, are now on Facebook. See Clare Brett Smith >Photo Books by Clare Brett Smith >Wall. Vineyard Summers Japan, Attention to Detail China 1977★Character Oaxaca*Mexico 1970-1979 Men&Boys/Women&Children,Pakistan Honduras, an ATA Project Beauty&The Factory/The Stanley Works
Š 2012 Clare Brett Smith