Vineyards
Francesco Gallarotti
I lived most of my life in the one of the most beautiful regions of Italy - the hills of Monferrato, in Piemonte, a couple of hundreds miles south of the snowy mountains of Switzerland, and less than fifty miles north of the magnificent rocky coast of Liguria. Nonetheless, I actually never realized how beautiful that region was until after moving overseas, to New York, to study computer science. During the first few years here in the United States, I rediscovered photography, a hobby that I had forgotten long time before in favor of computers and digital music. After having owned for a couple of years a “point-and-shoot” digital camera - the Sony F-505v - in 2003 I made myself a fantastic gift for my graduation, a Canon 10D, probably the first affordable digital SLR camera to hit the market. You can easily imagine how excited I was, going back to Italy for the first time with this new amazing tool in my bag. What was really surprising me was how much more I was enjoying the world around me since the moment I first started using my new camera. And then, one day, during a sunny and hot afternoon, together with my good friend and photographer Davide Moranduzzo, I finally had a chance to drive around the very same hills where I used to bike when I was much younger. The colors where just perfect and the vineyards were so neatly arranged that they look like the most beautiful gardens. Once we reached the crest of one of the hills we met a farmer. At the beginning he suspiciously asked us what we were doing walking around his property, but, once he discovered how much we enjoyed the dazzling beauty of his vineyards, he proudly guided deeper into the vineyard, a short walk away from the country road, leading us to a natural “balcony” with a breathtaking view over the valley. With this short book I would like to share the images of that afternoon. My hope is that, through my photography, you will be able to appreciate the beauty of the region of Italy I come from as much as I do. Francesco Gallarotti
Francesco Gallarotti Š 2004 www.francescogallarotti.com