Andrea Monti

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  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Visual,  Winter

    Accidental Precision

    February 12, 2016 /

      This wasn’t a technical success. It was a mistake. I had just raised the camera when I accidentally twisted the zoom ring mid-exposure. The result: a vortex of distortion with a woman at the centre, walking straight into it. And yet, it worked. Not in spite of the blur—but because of it. The composition wasn’t planned, but it landed with an unexpected balance. The vanishing point draws backward, while the red coat blasts forward—like pigment dragged across the frame by a restless brush. The background—palm trees, streetlights, suburban geometry—melts into curves, turning realism into gesture. This image violates every rule of clarity. It’s not sharp. Her face is unreadable,…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Out For Justice

    June 21, 2014

    Shooting a Roller Derby Bout

    November 19, 2024

    Noon on the Beach

    May 1, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  OutOfFocus,  People,  Rome,  Visual,  Winter

    Multiple Peripheral Visions

    February 10, 2016 /

    This frame was shot instinctively—no time to refocus, no second attempt. What emerged is less a photograph than a study in misdirection. Every figure in this image is out of focus, yet the meaning is sharper than most high-resolution portraits. The scene plays like theatre. A soldier, heavily armed, stands at ease in the foreground. A woman in heels walks away, blurred into silhouette. In the background, people sit, smoke, talk, check phones. The corridor and its black door—dead centre, unnerving in its neutrality—stares back like a question. The sign reads “BALCONE DIPLOMATICO,” almost comical in its contrast to the ordinariness of what surrounds it. Technically, it’s a failure by…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Action! (beware of Fuji X-Pro 2)

    February 2, 2016

    Into The Cube

    November 18, 2014

    Reflexes

    December 30, 2015
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Rome,  Winter

    Carabinieri:To Serve And Protect

    February 8, 2016 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    An Old-Style ATM

    April 13, 2013

    The Expired Film Series – Episode 1 – Kodak BW400CN – Dec. 2014 shot in June 2023

    July 21, 2023

    Singers

    February 19, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Rome,  Winter

    Art Auction at Piazza Navona

    February 6, 2016 /

    Piazza Navona, with its fountains, baroque facades, and endless hum of voices, has always been more than a square—it’s a theatre. In this scene, the performance is one of persuasion. An artist, dressed for the chill in a beanie and heavy jacket, holds up a framed painting. His expression is animated, hand gesturing as he speaks, the stance of a man who knows he has only a few minutes to turn curiosity into commitment. Across from him, a young couple listens. The woman’s hand hovers near her mouth—hesitation, calculation, or perhaps simply the reflex of someone considering a purchase that’s more about emotion than necessity. The man, in his blue…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Waiting for (Supreme) Justice

    February 14, 2017

    The Relentless Lawyer

    February 6, 2017

    Santino’s Photo& Video at Broadway

    August 7, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Restaurants&Bar,  Rome,  Winter

    A coffee at Saint Eustachio’s

    February 4, 2016 /

      Saint Eustachio is not a place for rushed photography. Between the crush of customers, the warm glare off the coffee machines, and the tight spaces, you’ve got to work with precision — and patience. Using the Fuji X-E2 with a Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.5, I knew this would be a manual focus game. Autofocus would have been hunting in the low light, and besides, the Planar has a way of rewarding the slowness it demands. I focused carefully on the barista’s eyes, knowing that at f/1.5 depth of field would be razor thin. He was completely absorbed in his work, and I wanted that concentration to be the anchor…

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Scooter

    March 1, 2013

    Modern Times

    January 6, 2013

    Before The Match

    October 20, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Gear,  People,  Rome,  Winter

    Action! (beware of Fuji X-Pro 2)

    February 2, 2016 /

    I’ve shot this picture with a Fujifilm X-E2 and a Zeiss C Sonnar T* 1,5/50 ZM. The split-image manual focus confirmation worked properly (though with a strong light it’s more difficult to handle it) and the resulting file in term of size and quality is fairly satisfying. Enter the X-Pro2 with a bigger resolution and new RAW format. While a 24 Megapixel APS-C sensor creates file that can be handled by most of the computer currently in place, the new RAW format will require the latest Photoshop CC/Lightroom update. So, if you chose not to enter into the mud of a subscription-based software licensing model, all of a sudden you…

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    Andrea Monti

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    A Modern Orpheus

    November 24, 2015

    The Silent Dialog

    August 31, 2013

    A promenade

    February 24, 2013
  • Artists,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Reportage,  Winter

    Max Gazzè Tour 2016 Live @Pescara

    February 1, 2016 /

    For this reportage I’ve borrowed a Canon 5D Mk III coupled with a EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM and my Fuji X-E2 with the XF 18-55 f/2.8-4R LM OIS. Of course, I got no operational problems with the 5D (if you know how to overcome its limits) and the lens performed very good, but I must admit that I’ve been surprised by the quality of the X-E2 images, taken at ISO 3200. Does this means that is time to trash the Canon and go for a “Fuji-only” setup? I don’t think so, in particular if telephotos are a recurring presence in the jobs. True, now Fujifilm too has a…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Accidental Precision

    February 12, 2016

    A Missed Pricetag?

    January 29, 2013

    Italian Track&Field Championship 2018 – The reportage

    September 12, 2018
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Gear,  Milan,  People,  Winter

    After a Tough Day

    January 30, 2016 /

    I  took this photo with a Fujifilm X-E2 and a Leica Elmarit 90/2,8. Manual focusing with the split-image option has been fairly easy.

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    Andrea Monti

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    London Panning

    December 30, 2013

    (Not so) Intelligent Design

    October 26, 2018

    A new camera and the quest for the missed information

    December 18, 2012
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Fashion Shops,  Rome,  Winter

    Sales Force

    January 28, 2016 /

    There’s an odd tension in this photograph — one that pulls you in before you’ve even had time to work out why. On the surface, it’s a straightforward shop-window scene: mannequins in carefully styled outfits, lit with that clinical precision that retail chains excel at. Yet the longer you look, the more unsettling it becomes. The composition is tight, almost regimented, with the mannequins arranged in military formation. Their identical, expressionless faces create a chorus of stillness, reinforced by the repetition of hair colour, pose, and stance. The red “ALDI” sign in the foreground slices into the frame with an almost aggressive verticality, its bold typography competing for attention with…

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Smoker’s Golden Rule: A Coffee Always Calls a Cigarette

    July 9, 2013

    An Old-Style ATM

    April 13, 2013

    Mandatory Photo Position

    August 3, 2019
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Fashion Shops,  Gear,  People,  Rome,  Winter

    Should I Buy It? (Best Taken With an 85mm)

    January 23, 2016 /

    …but actually with a 23mm (35mm equivalent, cropped.) It’s not just a shopping street. It’s a stage. Look closer: this frame holds a silent performance — a subtle interplay of desire, decision, and doubt. Three women stand just outside the warmth of the boutique, their eyes fixed on mannequins who, ironically, seem far more confident than the living observers. The mannequin inside strikes a bold pose, clad in red and certainty. The women outside? Bundled in coats, their body language somewhere between ambivalence and negotiation. On the far left, another kind of window. A glowing child’s fantasy, plastered with Disney’s “Frozen” — a reminder of simpler times, when wanting something…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Caparezza – Live@Palamaggetti Roseto degli Abruzzi

    February 12, 2018

    When Colour Helps Composition

    February 7, 2020

    Black Cat

    October 31, 2021
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Downtown,  People,  Photography,  Rome,  Street Photography,  Winter

    The Watchman (Street-Photography Shortcuts)

    January 21, 2016 /

    As every thing under the sun, Street-Photography too has its own shortcuts: freaky street-portraits are one of those. It’s easy to have your pictures noticed when your subject is a 60-years old Brit-Punk, an implausible-color dressed man or whatever alike: these subjects do the work on your behalf and it is very hard to obtain such kind of picture AND conveying actual meaning. Personally I like photos that – alone or made meaningful by a title – can tell a story. This way I can try to (pretend to) make “unique” shots, that stand with dignity in front of the zillions of 500px/Instagram/Flickr’s  great images that are often perfect but…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Ramón Jarque, tocaor

    October 29, 2017

    Sala degli Onori @ Triennale di Milano

    May 19, 2017

    Floating

    October 7, 2023
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Gear,  People,  Rome,  Winter

    True Leather (Saved by Photoshop’s Crop)

    January 18, 2016 /

    A 35mm focal length is definitely much too wide for my kind of street-photography, but I must admit that the advantages of using a Fujifilm X100s in terms of efficiency and portability, beat any other issue related to the wideness of the lens. And the X100s’ resolution is good enough to obtain a good composition through Photoshop’s crop feature.

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    Andrea Monti

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    Is This Photo Illegal?

    March 20, 2014

    Red Bag, Black Shoes

    November 27, 2014

    Red Storm

    June 30, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Restaurants&Bar,  Rome,  Winter

    A Nikon’s Portrait Made With a Fuji

    January 14, 2016 /

    A Nikon camera strap curls into the lower left of the frame, its familiar yellow letters unmistakable to anyone who’s ever held one. Yet the photograph itself was taken with a Fujifilm—a quiet, almost private joke between photographer and viewer. The rest of the image leans into misdirection. The camera is not the subject, at least not in the obvious way. Centre stage belongs to a pair of hands opening a quilted leather handbag, rings catching the light, fingertips poised in the act of searching or arranging. The fabrics, textures, and colours—matte grey, deep burgundy, soft velvet—compete gently for attention. The Nikon strap rests there almost incidentally, but of course…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Longtime Abandoned

    May 30, 2014

    Is AI-generated art actually killing ‘real’ Art?

    September 16, 2022

    An illuminated escape path will help you to reach the exits …

    November 10, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Milan,  Restaurants&Bar,  Winter

    Reflexes

    December 30, 2015 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    A Blue Vespa

    November 3, 2014

    Hard Spam

    April 1, 2013

    London Panning

    December 30, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Milan,  Reportage,  Winter

    Labcoats In A Moment Of Rest

    December 28, 2015 /

    The lab was quiet. Machines still hummed, but the people had stepped away—lunch maybe, or a seminar down the corridor. I found this row of coats, slack and ghostlike, lined up with the kind of accidental symmetry that only happens when no one’s trying. Each hook bore a name: Stef, Erica, Anna, Sara, Giorgio… markers of identity in a place that prizes protocol over personality. Shot on a Canon 5D Mark II with the 24–105, the image leaned into its neutrality. No attempt to stylise the whites or fake a sterile glow. The coats were wrinkled, some slightly yellowed at the seams. I kept the exposure honest—highlights restrained just below…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Conversations, Silences, and Street Life

    August 5, 2014

    John De Leo’s Grande Abarasse Orchestra – Live

    February 10, 2015

    As Seen on Ferrania Film’ Stories section…

    December 4, 2023
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Milan,  People,  Winter

    Last Puff Before the Ride

    December 26, 2015 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Indifference

    July 5, 2015

    Trick or Treat?

    June 14, 2013

    Portrait of a Professional Pugilist. Davide De Lellis

    March 8, 2019
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Milan,  People,  Restaurants&Bar,  Winter

    Busy

    December 24, 2015 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Opposites

    February 3, 2013

    Uncertainity

    August 11, 2013

    Sega Codemaster

    November 21, 2017
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Milan,  People,  Winter

    Earbuds

    December 22, 2015 /

    A man crosses the street in mid-stride, headphones enclosing him in his own private world. Behind him, a line of people stands at the tram stop, their stillness a counterpoint to his movement. The tram, painted in tired colours, seems almost fixed in place, its presence dwarfed by the weathered façade of the building above. The sign EgyptAir—faded, peeling—hangs over the scene like an echo from another time, hinting at journeys and destinations that have little to do with this grey urban moment. The building’s windows are uneven in tone, some dark, some reflecting a pale sky, all framed by streaks of wear from decades of weather. What draws the eye…

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    Andrea Monti

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    An Athlete@Stadio Marmi, Rome

    October 11, 2018

    It’s always the right time

    February 17, 2013

    The Path To Freedom

    September 29, 2014
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Docks,  Winter

    A Vessel

    December 18, 2015 /

    I’ve always found that photographing boats is an exercise in balance—between structure and fluidity, between the hard geometry of rigging and the soft, shifting water beneath. This image leans into that duality beautifully. The yacht sits clean and confident in the frame, its hull catching the light in a way that reveals every subtle curve, while the fenders hang like punctuation marks, breaking up the strong horizontal line of the deck. Shot in black and white, the absence of colour shifts the viewer’s attention to texture and tonal separation. The polished deck, taut ropes, and the soft reflections in the harbour water each have their own surface quality. The exposure…

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    Andrea Monti

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    A Japanese Luthier and a Fingerstyle Player from My Home Region (and My Past) – A One shot story

    January 22, 2025

    Switch

    December 18, 2014

    A Standup Paddleboarder

    August 25, 2014
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Past&Relics,  Winter

    Romeo’s Hideout

    December 16, 2015 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Italy, Street-Photography and The Law – A Real Case

    October 3, 2014

    In praise of ‘cheap’ lenses for ‘pro’ works

    April 4, 2021

    Countersniping

    February 7, 2014
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Rome,  Winter

    Traffic Jam in Rome

    December 14, 2015 /

    Traffic Jam in Rome turns a mundane urban frustration into a tightly composed study of rhythm, glare, and human impatience. Shot in black and white, the image removes the distraction of colour, allowing form, texture, and contrast to carry the story. CompositionThe frame is dominated by the lead vehicle, a small Opel, positioned slightly off-centre but close enough to the lens to dwarf the rest of the scene. Its mass blocks the viewer’s way forward, much as the driver is blocked in reality. The eye then steps back through a staggered row of vehicles, each one receding into the compressed depth of traffic, until it meets the horizon cluttered with more…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Against the Tide

    January 30, 2014

    Heater

    May 23, 2015

    None of my business…

    March 3, 2013
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  People,  Rome,  Winter

    The Coffin

    December 12, 2015 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Inside The Palace of Power

    September 17, 2015

    Early Morning’s Cleanup

    July 21, 2013

    Longtime Abandoned

    May 30, 2014
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Past&Relics,  Winter

    The Last Barrell

    December 10, 2015 /

    There’s a certain poetry in objects long past their prime, and this image captures that sentiment with quiet precision. An old Q8 Oils barrel, mottled with rust and flaking paint, leans against a crumbling brick wall, its chain slack and purposeless. It feels abandoned yet still carries the weight of its former function — an industrial relic in a state of slow surrender to the elements. From a compositional standpoint, the photograph benefits from its simplicity. The barrel occupies a dominant position in the frame, slightly off-centre, drawing the viewer’s eye immediately to the texture of its surface. The chain provides a subtle vertical counterpoint to the horizontal curvature of…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Nikkor 16mm Fisheye – Three Ways to Make use of Such a Lens

    August 22, 2024

    An Inside Irongate

    February 26, 2014

    Now You See It…Street Juggler at a Red Light in Barcelona

    June 16, 2014
  • Colour,  Milan,  OutOfFocus,  People,  Restaurants&Bar,  Summer

    A (Out-of-Focus) Break Between Lunch and Supper

    December 8, 2015 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Wrecked Ship

    November 23, 2013

    The Last Icecream?

    October 30, 2013

    Relax At The Rapallo’s Marina

    August 2, 2014
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