I am delighted to announce that I am now represented in Italy by Luz Photo. Founded by some of my former colleagues from the sadly missed Grazia Neri agency they look after some excellent photographers. I look forward very much to working with them.

You can see my folio page here or click on the image below.

… is a pretty good place to spend a week doing nothing but eating, drinking and reading. On the rare occasions that I ventured out this is what I saw…

Italy - Umbria - A winding road and a field of sunflowers

Italy - Urbino - A tourist videos his little girl running down a path outside the Palazzo Ducale

Italy - Urbino - A man talks on his mobile telephone whilst leaning against a wall next to his Vespa

Italy - Umbria - A flowerpot overlooks the Umbrian countryside at dusk

I just returned from a job in Bologna several pounds heavier. It was actually the most enjoyable trip I’ve had in years: not only could I wander endlessly but the people were extraordinarily nice. In five days no one objected to being photographed, everyone was unerringly polite and everyone humoured my laboured and almost non-existant Italian.

I was searching for a way to photograph the city and quite by chance, after a long walk, wandered into a newsagent that sold books and found a panoramic image from the top of somewhere obviously very high. The guy in the shop was convinced it was taken from the top of a famous church but the caption read ‘O Coronato’… Confused, I called my new editor at Grazia Neri, Anna Savini. As luck would have it, Anna is from Bologna and the Coronato is actually a privately owned tower – and her Mum knew the owner. Very handy. Matteo Giovanardi who lives in and owns the tower was charm itself – but I had to climb the tower alone as he was waiting for his daughter to come back from school… I have to say that the tower was a marvel. It was also very high. For someone who isn’t great at heights and had already climbed the The Asinelli Tower, sweating and gripping the frail handrails tightly swearing never to do this kind of thing again, it was a bit of a trial. The view was however, extraordinary. The light, just before sunset, sublime. I remembered why I’d become a photographer. As I heaved myself down, Matteo showed me around his home that is the Prendiparte Tower…

I was terribly fortunate to be allowed to photograph from the Tower: I think Matteo has only granted permission twice – both for books. Anyway, this is what I saw:

I have to thank Caroline, digital guru extroaordinaire, for stitching together several images (obviously I came prepared – without a panoramic attachment on the tripod…).