THE TALE IN WHICH THE PAST, THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE HAVE ALL BECOME ONE
ADVENTURE PHOTOSHOOT ON LAKE COMO
‘Let There Be Light’
PROLOGUE, or the FIRST PERIOD of THE AWARENESS
First Period | Along the Lakeshore
Where – while the story begins – light and water
which are sources of life shine together
introducing into a better awareness of Beautiful in the Creation.
SECOND PERIOD, ALSO CALLED 'THE VICTORY OVER THE TIME GOING BY'
At the church of St. Thomas of Canterbury
In which even the distance seperating the epochs is cancelled in the visible matter.
THIRD PERIOD: OF THE SINCERE LOVE
At the Gate of the Walls
Where love is a deliberate choice. Far away from a passing sentiment, this choice becomes the benchmark for creating throught the art both the Beautiful and the Sublime.
FOURTH PERIOD or THE EVOCATION
Along the Path of the Wayfarer
In which the visual representation is guided by a sort of epical inspiration, inquiring about the origin of our idea of the Beautiful.
FIFTH PERIOD, OR THE TRANSFIGURATION
At the Lord's Graves
In which Death, which is usually believed to be the Bearer of Sadness, was defeated by the Sublime and by all Those who operated a passage to Life.
SIXTH PERIOD, OR THE COMPLETENESS
Where everything all around cooperates in producing the Blessedness.
After a rest, and from these flowing waters this tale can now proceed, having revealed itself to you, towards other narratives.
See the blue door? It now has a mailbox: in keeping with traditions, the news will come by letter.
Far from the tourists’ clangor around Lake Como, you can discover this ancient village whose name derives from the Roman magistrate, lawyer and historian Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus today better known as Plinio il Giovane, which in English is Pliny the Younger.
Following the local tradition, two thousand years ago he owned here a villa.
Corenno Plinio, this is the name of the village, although largerly clinging to a cliff face, has its Roman street plan with the Decumanus and the Cardus crossing the inhabited area.
The current main square now close the Catholic Church was the ancient seat of the forum with the temple and the marketplace.
Some paths leading down to the lake by means of steep flights of stairs are carved out of the rock.
In the past these could be closed off by large doors that protected the inhabitants at night from animals or from looters approaching from the water.
A statute from 1389ce described a moat with water where the external road that goes around the lake now runs.
Plinius’ namesake uncle Gaius Plinius Secundus (Verona, 23/24ce – Pompei area, eruption of Mount Vesuvius, 79ce), called Plinio il Vecchio, ‘Pliny the Elder’, also lived for a long time in Como.
He visited many times his nephew’s Plinio il Giovane villa at Corenno Plinio for sure.
Plinio il Vecchio was an author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, as a friend of the emperor Vespasian.
He also wrote the encyclopedic Naturalis Historia (Natural History), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias.
But what is of the most interest for our contemporary couple photoshoots is his creative suggestion around the beginning of visual arts:
‘It all started when a woman traced the profile of her beloved around the shadow cast coming from his face’.
Don’t you think it’s incredibly wonderful and… ‘romantic’?
Starting from Plinio il Vecchio’s theory on the visual arts, through photography and with my colleague photographer Susy Zuppati @_capellidibrace_ as the female muse, I formed this little fairy tale divided into six Periods, just as the days of the Creation.
Greta Zanotto @greta_zanotto @vintagshop_italia, mother of three, is a fashion stylist, model, photographer, and manager of an online vintage clothes shop. The couple’s outfits come from her warehouse.
The image of Corenno Plinio from the water was taken with the precious help of Cristian Fumagalli, owner of the @bellagiocharter boat company.
Now ends our tale, but time is a transitory phenomenon in our eternal lives, and the word “end” can also mean “beginning” or “a brand new beginning”.
How really do the human feelings count when they are guided by temporary emotions in front of mystery of life and the Creation?
We can call this sequence ‘a day’, not considering it the end but the next beginning.
“Let There Be Light” are saying – in my case – the fireflies.
THE END
VECCHIA VERSIONE POI REVISIONATA
Far from the tourists’ clangour around Lake Como, you can discover an ancient village that exists, whose name derives from the Roman magistrate, lawyer and historian Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, today better known as Plinio il Giovane, which in English is ‘Pliny the Younger’. He was born in Como.
Following the local tradition, two thousand years ago Plinius owned a villa here.
Corenno Plinio, is the name of this village, and although largely clinging to a cliff face, it still has its Roman street plan with the Decumanus and the Cardus crossing the inhabited area.
The village’s main square close to the Catholic church, a visual delight, was the ancient seat of the forum with the temple and the marketplace.
Some paths leading down to the lake by means of steep flights of stairs are carved out of the rock.
In the past these could be closed off by large doors that protected the inhabitants at night from animals approaching from the mountains, or looters approaching from the water.
The Statues from 1389ce describe a moat with water where the main road now runs.
Plinius’ namesake uncle Gaius Plinius Secundus (Verona, 23/24ce – Pompei, eruption of Mount Vesuvius, 79ce), called ‘Pliny the Elder’, lived also in Como and most certainly visited his younger nephew Pliny’s villa, at Corenno Plinio, many times.
Pliny the Elder, an eclcetic intellectual, was an author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and, as a friend of the Emperor Vespasian, he also was a naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire.
His work Naturalis Historia (Natural History), became an editorial model for encyclopedias.
But all of that aside, there is a whimsical fact regarding the contemporary couple photoshoots. His imaginary suggestion regarding the beginning of visual arts: ‘It all started when a woman traced the profile of her beloved around the shadow cast coming from his face’.
Don’t you think that this sounds incredibly wonderful and… ‘romantic’?
Starting from this theory of the visual arts, through photography and with the fine collaboration of my colleague photographer Susy Zuppati (Instagram: @_capellidibrace_), the female muse, I created (as an artist) this little fairy tale divided into the six different Periods. Being inspired herself by the six the days of the Creation.
Greta Zanotto (Instagram: @greta_zanotto) helped us with the outfits. She is a fashion stylist, model, photographer and also manages an online vintage clothes shop.
The image of Corenno Plinio from the water was taken with the kind help of my friend Cristian Fumagalli, owner of the @bellagiocharter boat company.
Here ends our tale, but time is a transitory phenomenon in our eternal lives, and the word “end” can also mean “beginning” or “a brand new beginning”.
How do human feelings really count when we are guided by temporary emotions in front of the mystery of life and the Creation?
We can now close this sequence and call it ‘A Day’, not considering it the end but the next beginning.
“Let there be light” are saying – in my case – the fireflies.
ADVENTURE PHOTOSHOOTS
How to book
An adventure photoshoot has a different concept from other photoshoots.
It consist of a real adventure concerning the intimate discovery of one or more locations around Lake Como, in which the members of the couple are the “heroes”, protagonists of a tale that can turn into a “fairy” one.
Here a story is presented that is almost in the form of a historical re-enactment, but we can design together services suitable for a wedding elopement or stories with a completely different concept, for example based more on the nature of the location and less on its history, or an idea suggested by you.
Price starts form € 1970, it depends on the complexity of what we want to start to design.
Usually at least an half of day is required for taking fine art sequences of coordinated images, but some projects require a whole day, or the half days.
Please, get in touch with me from the form at the bottom of this page, specifying that you are interested in an “adventure photoshoot”.
An adventure photoshoot has a different concept from other photoshoots.
It consist of a real adventure concerning the intimate discovery of one or more locations around Lake Como, in which the members of the couple are the “heroes”, protagonists of a tale that can turn into a “fairy” one.
Here a story is presented that is almost in the form of a historical re-enactment, but we can design together services suitable for a wedding elopement or stories with a completely different concept, for example based more on the nature of the location and less on its history, or an idea suggested by you.
Price starts form € 1970, it depends on the complexity of what we want to start to design.
Usually at least an half of day is required for taking fine art sequences of coordinated images, but some projects require a whole day, or the half days.
Please, get in touch with me from the form at the bottom of this page, specifying that you are interested in an “adventure photoshoot”.
LAKE COMO IN BLACK AND WHITE?
Post-production and delivery of the edited work
No worries, every delivered image has its post-production and its black and white version.
