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Andrea Monti

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  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Landscape,  Winter

    An Open Gate

    January 13, 2015 /

    On a cold, colourless morning in a deserted lot the rain had just stopped, and the air was still heavy with moisture. The open gates, rusted and leaning slightly outward, looked like punctuation marks in a sentence no one was reading anymore. The puddle between them mirrored a sky stripped of light — the kind of silence that asks to be photographed.

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Angel Maker

    February 25, 2014

    Stairway to Hell

    January 9, 2022

    Portrait of a Politician – 2

    June 15, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Parks,  Winter

    Bulbs

    January 12, 2015 /

    This photograph was taken from the ground up, the lens almost brushing the asphalt. By choosing such a low perspective, the surface of the road becomes as important as the row of streetlights that recede into the distance. The texture of the pavement dominates the foreground, glistening with a grainy sharpness that catches the artificial glow. Technically, the image pushes the limits of night photography. The exposure is long enough to register detail in the dimly lit environment, yet short enough to keep the lamps from collapsing entirely into pure white orbs. The result is a series of glowing bulbs, haloed by flare, guiding the eye deeper into the composition.…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Dark Omen

    December 31, 2021

    DSLR-like…?

    March 21, 2025

    The Icecream is ready to be served

    May 8, 2013
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Garbage,  Past&Relics,  Spring

    Too Big To Be Dumped

    January 10, 2015 /

    This frame came to life walking past an alley where time seems to have hit pause. The bins stand in perfect alignment, regimented like bureaucratic soldiers, while behind them, the decaying wall tells a different story—chaotic, layered, unresolved. I shot this with a 35mm prime, letting the midday sun carve stark shadows that add to the irony of this supposed order. The exposure demanded precision. Too much light and I’d have lost the texture on the old plaster; too little and the bins would sink into murk. I leaned into the contrast, embracing the Leica’s natural tonal harshness in black and white. No dramatic angles, no “decisive moment” flourish—just frontal,…

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Godfather

    July 23, 2014

    VueScan and the missed Bits-per-pixel

    December 1, 2013

    Wrecked Hull

    February 14, 2014
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Landscape,  Winter

    A Panorama

    December 30, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    The BatFire

    April 29, 2016

    Lost In Barcelona’s Beauty

    June 13, 2014

    Minolta MC W Rokkor-HG 35/2.8 and Nikon Z5 – An Empirical Field-Test

    January 8, 2026
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Docks,  People,  Winter

    A Fisherman

    December 25, 2014 /

      In a quiet marina, under the forgiving light of the late afternoon, a fisherman tends to his nets. There are no waves crashing, no shouting, no sails unfurling—just the steady, patient work of untangling, mending, preparing. This is not a romanticised image of the sea. There is no dramatic storm, no heroic pose. Just hands worn by salt, wind, and time, labouring over nylon threads that, like veins, carry sustenance from ocean to table. These nets are not merely tools—they are lifelines, a continuation of tradition, a quiet resistance to obsolescence. The photograph captures a kind of devotion: to craft, to survival, to family. Each knot tells of a…

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Lost Hotel

    September 5, 2014

    Guess who’s happier?

    May 27, 2013

    Hell Behind — Tiny Holes Reveal the Flames

    March 19, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Landscape,  Winter

    Pouring Water Since About 300 Years

    December 23, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Caged?

    June 6, 2014

    What Lasts of a Saturday Night Party

    January 24, 2014

    Windows

    September 15, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Winter

    Switch

    December 18, 2014 /

    Today is this photo blog’s second birthday.

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    Andrea Monti

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    Traffic Master

    December 19, 2016

    Professional Courtesy

    March 4, 2026

    Couples

    May 17, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Streets&Squares,  Winter

    Red

    December 17, 2014 /

    The image was taken in the evening, when artificial lights mix with the faint remnants of daylight, producing a palette that can easily become muddy if exposure and colour balance are not carefully controlled. The choice to keep the scene in its natural ambient light preserves its authenticity, though it comes at the cost of some detail in shadowed areas. The central figure in the red jacket acts as a visual anchor, standing out decisively against the more subdued hues of the crowd. From a compositional standpoint, the frame is well balanced: the converging lines of the street lead the eye into the depth of the scene, pulling attention from…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Much Too Powerful a Knock…

    June 3, 2014

    Secret Beyond the Door

    October 24, 2013

    Windows XVIII … Century

    February 27, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Restaurants&Bar,  Winter

    Busy In A Call

    December 16, 2014 /

    Shot handheld at night, available light only. I leaned into the blur and grain—ISO pushed to 3200, wide open at f/2. The result isn’t clean. It’s fractured, noisy, restless. Which fits. The moment wasn’t about stillness. Foreground holds two figures, tight in the frame. One in profile, on the phone, thumb pressed to lips, nails yellow against a black handset. The other’s back to camera, only form and volume—hair and jacket. Behind them, the café scene unfolds: overlapping bodies, light bouncing off glass, talk and gestures suspended mid-motion. Focus was shallow and uncertain by design. The camera caught the caller’s cheek, soft but distinguishable. The rest bleeds into motion. Technical…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Cultural Variety In Helsinki

    September 24, 2022

    London in Motion: A Night Ride in a Single Frame

    October 26, 2016

    Max Gazzè Tour 2016 Live @Pescara

    February 1, 2016
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Visual,  Winter

    Yellow

    December 15, 2014 /

    The photograph hinges on the interplay between colour, geometry, and omission. By keeping the frame cropped tightly, I remove any narrative context — no faces, no full figures, just the assertive yellow of work trousers, the partial arc of a bicycle wheel, and the tiled pavement as stage. The absence of a complete subject forces the eye to wander across shapes and lines rather than fixating on identity. The composition is built diagonally, with the wheel anchoring the right edge and the worker’s feet drawing the gaze upward and left. The black tile bands slice the frame, adding structure and contrast to the more neutral beige of the pavement. It’s…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Learning to Shoot Boxing Matches

    July 18, 2024

    Sailing Home

    October 4, 2023

    Late Night Arrival at Bertinoro’s Castle

    January 15, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Odds,  Winter

    Is This My Breakfast? (Kirobo, the new Pinocchio)

    December 14, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    An Open Gate

    January 13, 2015

    Portrait of a young guitar player

    May 4, 2014

    Not AI-made…

    September 17, 2022
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Patisserie,  People,  Portraits,  Winter

    The Man Behind The Croissant

    December 13, 2014 /

    It’s not just a title. It’s a layered truth. He’s literally behind the croissants — arms folded, resting gently on the chilled glass counter, smiling with the quiet confidence of someone who knows exactly what he’s made. But he’s also the one behind them in the deeper sense: the early riser, the flour-dusted craftsman, the keeper of recipes that live more in muscle memory than in ink. The Man Behind the Croissant is a portrait of work and warmth. Of a man whose day starts long before anyone steps into the shop. Who rolls, folds, rests, fills, bakes — not as performance, but as rhythm. There’s no spectacle here. Just trays of pastry…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Lonely cart

    March 4, 2013

    Under an Old Roof

    May 22, 2014

    Waiting for the hearing

    February 19, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Milan,  People,  Restaurants&Bar,  Winter

    Message Check Before Breakfast

    December 12, 2014 /

    This shot came together in the quiet seconds between espresso orders and the whir of the barista’s machine. I didn’t ask him to pose — I never do in moments like these. His posture, leaning forward, eyes fixed on the screen, scarf still clutched tight from the cold outside, told the full story. The light was unforgiving in its neutrality — ceiling fixtures and flat fluorescents don’t do any favours, but sometimes they just let the environment breathe. I pushed the ISO higher than I’d normally like, sacrificing a bit of cleanliness for immediacy. Still, the rendering holds: detail in the wool coat, a soft drop-off in the background, and…

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Next Emperor of Foro Italico

    May 15, 2026

    Smile!

    August 7, 2013

    @ Mediterranean Beach Games 2015 – Italian Female Rowing Team

    October 7, 2015
  • Artists,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Gear,  People,  Summer

    The Leica M9 CCDgate Outrageous Case

    December 11, 2014 /

    This is not “new” news, but is getting momentum: Leica M9′ sensors (including those fitted into the more than expensive “special” models) are plagued. The repair cost is 1.800,00 Euros plus VAT and shipping, not to mention the time needed to get the camera back (weeks? months?) Leica claims to offer paid support to the older, out-of-warranty customers but just doing a few math shows that it doesn’t worth it: if you own a between-three-and-five-years old M9 you’re supposed to pay 600,00 Euros (plus VAT etc.) while more-than-five-years old M9 owner will pay 1.200 Euros (plus VAT etc.) to get an old and outdated camera new sensor, affected by the…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Inside a Master Luthier’s Workshop

    July 24, 2025

    Fantozzi’s chairs

    May 4, 2013

    The Solitude of Power

    May 6, 2018
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Winter

    Branches On The Wall

    December 10, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Skating on the streets of Milan

    October 4, 2013

    A Lighthouse

    October 11, 2023

    Helios 40-2 85/1,5 and Fuji X-T5: a sample

    June 21, 2023
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Doors&Windows,  Winter

    Winter Leaves

    December 9, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Christmas Time at Covent Garden

    December 25, 2013

    Nature gets its space back…

    November 7, 2018

    Different Financial Transactions

    November 3, 2016
  • Chairs&Seats,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Landscape,  Winter

    A Rural View

    December 8, 2014 /

    The photograph frames the landscape through layers of architecture. Brick columns, wooden beams, and the shadowed floor lead the eye directly to the opening in the centre, where chairs and a table sit quietly against rolling hills. The space becomes a proscenium, turning countryside into spectacle, an everyday view into a staged scene. Composition is strict, almost symmetrical. The vertical columns create a grid that anchors the image, while the open middle draws attention forward. The empty chairs, evenly placed, act as stand-ins for absent viewers, inviting the gaze outward. Depth is built in three stages: the shaded foreground, the architectural frame, and the brightly lit landscape beyond. Technically, exposure…

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Hasselblad Way

    January 2, 2014

    Saturday Night’s Ice Cream

    August 19, 2013

    Some odd outcomes from a photo recovering attempt using an AI

    July 13, 2025
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Winter

    The Racers

    December 7, 2014 /

    This frame plays on contrast — not in light, but in intent. A man on a bicycle, casual and calm, drifts past a car caught in traffic. His posture suggests ease, purpose even, while the driver beside him grips a phone, half-engaged elsewhere. The child seat behind the cyclist, though empty, tells a story of movement beyond the individual. Domesticity, transport, and pace: all converge in one mundane but resonant street encounter. I shot this with a 35mm at f/8 to hold sharpness across the scene. The lens rewarded me with clarity on the cyclist’s face and detail in the background signage. Timing was key. I waited until the rider…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Waiting for the Shinkansen – 2

    June 30, 2017

    On Photography and Self-Delusion

    September 4, 2022

    Silent Reader

    July 17, 2016
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Winter

    Portrait with Skewers

    December 6, 2014 /

    I took this indoors, handheld, under mixed lighting, using a short focal length and no modifiers. It’s not a technical showcase. It’s a study in immediacy—an encounter frozen before refinement. The figure stands close, wide lens pulling in distortion around the edges. Face and skewers both sit in the shallow foreground, lit unevenly by ceiling fluorescents and ambient bounce from a warm source camera-left. The colour cast is inconsistent. I left it. Adjusting white balance to neutrality would flatten the artificiality that holds the image together. The context is a real room, not a set. Composition favours gesture. The skewers point forward, catching highlights and pulling focus. His hoodie and…

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    Skating at Palais de Tokyo

    June 11, 2015

    Histoire d’O

    November 11, 2014

    Seeking Directions – Where Do I Go From Here?

    September 10, 2013
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Visual,  Winter

    A Modern Nazca?

    December 4, 2014 /

    This image is one of those moments when photography abandons literalism and moves into interpretation. What you’re looking at is, in fact, a stretch of pavement and asphalt intersected by strong shadows—but the shallow depth of field and the grain structure render it unmoored from immediate recognition. The blurred lines could be mistaken for ancient geoglyphs seen from above, hence the tongue-in-cheek title. The parallel bands, intersecting curves, and sudden diagonals call to mind aerial archaeology, even though the camera was barely a metre from the ground. The ambiguity invites a double take, and in that pause, the viewer starts to reconstruct meaning. Technically, this is a photograph of deliberate…

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    Is The Sky Falling On Their Heads?

    August 1, 2013

    Cornermen

    June 4, 2013

    An outdoor theatre?

    January 31, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Odds,  Visual,  Winter

    Alien Veins

    December 3, 2014 /

    It could be a close-up from a science fiction set—a fragment of skin stretched over something alive, the faint ridges and channels mapping a circulatory system not of this Earth. The blue-grey surface is both organic and mineral, a texture that resists quick identification. The lines that run across it, some deeper, some fading into the background, suggest veins—arteries carrying whatever fluid an alien physiology might depend on. They seem to rise and sink, as if the surface itself were breathing. The faint crosshatch pattern interrupts the flow, adding to the unease: is this grown or manufactured? In reality, the subject might be utterly mundane. But in photography, truth is…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Red Lock At Genova’s Dock Arsenal

    August 8, 2014

    What Lasts of a Saturday Night Party

    January 24, 2014

    Underground Security RA(T)P

    June 5, 2015
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Streets&Squares,  Winter

    Suspicious

    December 2, 2014 /

    Every street photographer knows that moment — the fraction of a second when a stranger’s gaze brushes against yours and something shifts in the air. Suspicion. Wariness. An almost imperceptible tightening of the body. That’s the curse: the invisible threshold you cross when candid turns into confrontation, even if only in the subject’s mind. In this frame, the man in the magenta sweater and black coat is mid-stride, his expression caught somewhere between concentration and mild irritation. He’s moving with purpose, but his eyes — just soft enough in the focus to keep anonymity intact — seem aware of my presence. The shallow depth of field lets the textured walls…

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    Run Like Hell, Pinocchio!

    February 24, 2015

    Multiple Meaning

    December 10, 2013

    Canon EOS-M. Useless for Street-Photography

    March 28, 2013
  • Buildings,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Gates&Fences,  Rome,  Winter

    Guest Are Welcome!

    December 1, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Mooring The Boat

    July 28, 2014

    Light as Meaning Shifter

    December 11, 2019

    Italian Boxing Amateur Championship 2018. The Reportage

    December 18, 2018
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Doors&Windows,  Winter

    The Drying Machine

    November 30, 2014 /

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    Portrait with Skewers

    December 6, 2014

    The Lost Battle

    January 11, 2014

    The Financial Times at Night

    October 1, 2016
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