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Andrea Monti

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  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Restaurants&Bar,  Winter

    A Beverage Dispenser

    November 21, 2014 /

    The scene is dim, almost swallowed by shadow, yet two islands of light remain. At the centre of the frame, a refrigerated Coca-Cola display glows cold blue-white, its bottles and cans lined like soldiers on parade. Beside it, an older vending machine hums softly, its red housing lit from within by a warmer, almost nostalgic orange. Together they form a diptych of light—past and present vending, side by side. This photograph thrives on contrasts: the artificial chill of the drink cooler against the tungsten warmth of the coin-operated relic, the corporate gloss of branded red against the creeping darkness of a closed café. In the far right, upturned chairs signal…

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    Andrea Monti

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    The dilemma

    January 11, 2013

    How Privacy Hysteria Killed Street-Photography

    October 22, 2023

    The Oslo Opera House

    October 24, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Fighters,  People,  Winter

    Duel Inside The Cage

    November 20, 2014 /

    I shot this during an amateur MMA bout—tight quarters, fast motion, uneven lighting, and no second takes. What I wanted was proximity: to feel the tension hanging between the two fighters as they size each other up in the few quiet seconds before contact. I framed it just behind one of them, using his shoulder as a natural vignette to guide the viewer’s eye toward the opponent’s face. The focus is deliberately shallow. I could have chased clarity, but that wasn’t the point. The blurred expression of the man in the background says more than a tack-sharp portrait ever could. His intensity survives the softness. What you lose in detail,…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Harley-Davidson: Chrome And Presence

    December 24, 2018

    Tiles

    October 31, 2014

    An Unplausable Perspective

    May 6, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Doors&Windows,  Past&Relics,  Winter

    An Old Wi(n)dow

    November 17, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Merleria Livia

    February 14, 2015

    On Photography and Self-Delusion

    September 4, 2022

    A Green Patch

    August 26, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Landscape,  Winter

    Pavement

    November 16, 2014 /

    Look down. That’s where the history usually hides. This photo was taken not for what it shows, but for what it holds: time, pressure, order, and the slow, quiet work of weather. Pebbles set into concrete. Bricks pressed into place. Moss finding the lines and growing into them without permission. There’s nothing dramatic here—no subject in the conventional sense. Just texture and pattern and subtle, lived-in contrast. Whites, greens, browns, a bit of erosion, and a soft blue cast that comes from early evening or maybe reflected sky. A patch of street that thousands have stepped over without ever seeing. Sometimes photography is about finding the unnoticed—framing a space so…

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    Andrea Monti

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    A promenade

    February 24, 2013

    Knowledge in the Atelier (or: The First Shot of 2026)

    January 1, 2026

    Head-Dresser

    February 11, 2013
  • B&W,  Buildings,  Daily photo,  Past&Relics,  Winter

    Faces in the Façade: A Ghostly Smile in Stone

    November 15, 2014 /

    The camera tilts upward, catching the weathered skin of a building where plaster peels like old parchment. Two circles and an arch, carved decades ago, sit quietly above the passageway. Yet in this photograph, the mind cannot help but play: the decoration forms a round-eyed, wide-mouthed face, its features soft and slightly comic. The resemblance is uncanny—here is the echo of the Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters, peering down with an oblivious grin. The cracked and flaking surface becomes its aging skin, the faded stucco a reminder that even ghosts of pop culture can find new haunts in architecture. Light and shadow turn structural detail into character. The deep arch below reads…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Visual

    January 18, 2013

    Hard Spam

    April 1, 2013

    A Dislodged Portal

    December 15, 2018
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Winter

    Three’s Company

    November 14, 2014 /

    Public benches are theatres of the unscripted. I caught this trio suspended in a casual triangle—neither fully connected nor entirely apart. The geometry between them is tense, not hostile, but uncertain. They don’t pose; they orbit each other, and the moment belongs to that hesitation. The photo hinges on spatial rhythm. The wide format stretches the composition just enough to isolate each figure, but the concrete shadows and the circular bench lock them into an unspoken narrative. The light slices the scene diagonally, a crisp late afternoon beam that exaggerates contrast and textures—the pavement, the blue pillar, even the worn telephone on the left. That phone, by the way, plays…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Harley-Davidson: Chrome And Presence

    December 24, 2018

    A Blue Vespa

    November 3, 2014

    Life And Work On A Fishing Boat

    January 9, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Rome,  Winter

    Reluctant

    November 11, 2014 /

    It is a simple gesture, easily missed. But in that tension between movement and resistance lies a deeper reading of emotion and instinct. The dog, powerful and proud, lowers its head and anchors its weight as if reluctant to proceed—not from fear, but perhaps from nostalgia, uncertainty, or simply the inertia of old age. There is a moment of friction in this otherwise ordinary urban vignette: the human strides forward, while the dog—the loyal shadow, the constant companion—glances back, hesitates, drags its paws against the direction of motion. The leash, loosely held, is not a tool of command but a symbolic tether. It binds not through force, but through trust.…

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Sentinel

    August 13, 2013

    When The Passion Is Gone (thank to a sneaky photographer)

    August 21, 2013

    Mistress Of Puppets

    April 30, 2017
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Rome,  Winter

    Ottica Boncompagni

    November 7, 2014 /

    Walking through the streets of Rome with a camera in hand, I often find that shopfronts—particularly those that stubbornly resist the homogenisation of modern branding—tell more about a city’s cultural fabric than any monument. Ottica Boncompagni, captured here in this image, is a perfect example. The sign is visually loud, unapologetically retro, and absolutely Roman. The heavy, rounded typography in ochre and crimson recalls a distinctly 1970s aesthetic—an era of optimism and visual experimentation that still clings to the façades of certain Roman quartieri. And yet, this is not kitsch. It’s lived-in design, aged not by affectation but by time and endurance. From a technical perspective, the composition sits squarely…

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    Andrea Monti

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    An Essay on Composition

    February 14, 2021

    @Rome Maker Faire – 5. Pensive

    October 18, 2014

    Meaningless

    November 9, 2013
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Gates&Fences,  Lines,  Winter

    A Fence

    November 6, 2014 /

    What drew me to make this photograph was not the fence itself, but the way it interacted with the geometry behind it. The wire grid overlays the diagonal of the concrete stair and handrail, creating a tension between rigid containment and directional movement. The eye wants to follow the slope upward, yet is repeatedly interrupted by the vertical and horizontal bars in the foreground. In terms of composition, the alignment was deliberate. I positioned the frame so that the grid sat almost perfectly square, avoiding converging lines that would soften its structural authority. The diagonal cuts through the otherwise orthogonal arrangement, introducing a dynamic that stops the image from becoming…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Path of Life

    May 17, 2017

    Content Creators

    July 20, 2023

    Editing a photo taken with a Carl Zeiss Jena 135/4 Sonnar and a Fuji X-T3

    February 8, 2023
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Groceries,  Rome,  Winter

    A Grocery Store in Rome

    November 5, 2014 /

    Some photographs emerge not from the pursuit of the exceptional, but from the quiet insistence of the everyday. This frame, captured in Rome, is one of them. I didn’t wait for decisive moments or orchestrate elements. I simply stood in front of this unassuming mini market, with its fluorescent signage blinking “COLD DRINKS” and “APERTO,” and let the banality speak. The storefront is wedged into a stone facade, a brutal contrast softened by the cluttered joy of cheap pleasures: laminated posters of ice creams, fizzy drinks stacked like bricks, and a faded theatre poster wedged between glossy wrappers. You can almost smell the dusty coolness inside — a refuge from…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Mediterranean Games 2009

    June 28, 2015

    Yet Another WDISF Post

    May 5, 2024

    Money Doesn’t Smell

    April 2, 2015
  • Cars&Bikes,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Rome,  Winter

    A Blue Vespa

    November 3, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Processing a DSLR Digitised Black and White Film with Affinity Photo

    January 24, 2023

    What Souvenirs Say About Rome (and Your Attitude Toward Life)

    August 6, 2025

    Though Choice

    June 23, 2014
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Visual,  Winter

    Ramping Up

    September 16, 2014 /

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    Where Do I Go From Here?

    October 13, 2016

    Creativity vs Originality

    March 11, 2024

    Panning the Police

    November 17, 2016
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Past&Relics,  Winter

    Food For Thought

    September 14, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Game Over

    April 15, 2022

    Pensive

    June 13, 2015

    @ Mediterranean Beach Games 2015 – Italian Beach Volley Female Team – Laura Giombini, Giulia Toti

    October 17, 2015
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Past&Relics,  Winter

    A Rusted Window

    September 11, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Portrait of a Professional Pugilist. Davide De Lellis

    March 8, 2019

    Thirsty

    June 10, 2014

    A (Soon) Lost Banner

    November 1, 2018
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Landscape,  Winter

    The Chicken

    September 10, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Over There!

    May 29, 2022

    St. Peter in Background

    December 5, 2013

    Yet Another WDISF Post

    May 5, 2024
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Winter

    An Early Morning Fishing Expedition

    July 29, 2014 /

    I shot this just after sunrise. Light was low but clear, casting long shadows and warming the palette without oversaturating the sand. The three men—two pushing, one walking alongside—form a diagonal that pulls the eye from left to right, through netting, boat, and beach. The scene holds movement without blur. Every element is in transition. I framed from distance using a moderate telephoto to compress the layers—foreground vegetation, safety fencing, beach, and deep field of straw umbrellas. The shallow depth of field separates the action while still referencing the beach’s infrastructure. I let the background stay busy. It adds context, not confusion. Exposure was tricky. Highlights off the boat’s rubber…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Square One

    June 17, 2014

    Red Storm

    June 30, 2013

    A Focused (or Sad) Violinist

    December 17, 2016
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Social Control,  Winter

    On Air

    July 22, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Fighter

    June 2, 2013

    Feuer

    July 10, 2021

    Floating

    October 7, 2023
  • Bruxelles,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Restaurants&Bar,  Winter

    Nightlife in Bruxelles

    June 27, 2014 /

    You can smell it before you hear it — the warm hum of beer, laughter, breath crystallising in the cold. This photo, taken in the backstreets of Brussels, isn’t a postcard of nightlife. It’s a sketch. Loose, fast, half in shadow. Which makes it all the more true. Cafés and pubs stack signs on top of each other like citations — Delirium, Floris Bar, Café, Pub, Garden. Every name lit, every door half-open, promising exactly what you need at this hour. But the terrace tables are empty, stacked in rows like punctuation marks between stories. It’s too cold to sit. Too late to be still. The people gather where the…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Hanging

    January 19, 2015

    A Puff of Smoke

    August 29, 2013

    A Mysterious Bag

    November 2, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Milan,  People,  Winter

    Zebra Crossing, Again…

    June 22, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Desolation

    May 13, 2015

    Crowd Control At Dusk

    July 16, 2013

    The missing guest

    April 19, 2013
  • Bookstores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Paris,  People,  Winter

    Quality Check. Try Before You Buy

    April 10, 2014 /

    This image was taken outside a Parisian bookstore, a moment as classic as it is current: a man stands in the entrance, thumbing through a photobook, absorbed but casual. It’s not staged—he didn’t even glance at the camera. He was too focused, as anyone who’s spent hours weighing the purchase of one more photography book will understand. His expression wasn’t about doubt; it was about judgment—quality check, plain and simple. The composition offered itself. Framed by the bookstore’s open door, the man becomes the central figure in a visual funnel, surrounded by vertical stacks of books, postcards, and prints. The image flattens space into layered density—foreground filled with titles, background…

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    Sunny Afternoon

    January 22, 2013

    Venditti&DeGregori – Live@Anfiteatro La Civitella

    August 11, 2022

    The Expired Film Series – Episode 4 – Ferrania Solaris 100 – Dec. 2006 shot in August 2023

    September 3, 2023
  • Bruxelles,  Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Winter

    Perfect Strangers

    April 5, 2014 /

    This was shot at a crossing in Brussels. Late afternoon, golden hour starting to lean into haze, and the kind of sidelight that makes the most mundane street scenes feel sculptural. I wasn’t looking for a story—I was just following the light. What I got instead was this: two people, frozen in proximity, framed by urban geometry and indifferent routine. They didn’t know each other. That much was clear. No shared glances, no body language suggesting connection. Just two people waiting for the light to change, locked in that brief, suspended moment before movement resumes. But visually, they worked in tandem—her neon green jacket, his mustard ochre coat, both cutting…

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    Fast Call

    December 28, 2013

    On the Range

    December 6, 2015

    Ramping Up

    September 16, 2014
  • B&W,  Bruxelles,  Daily photo,  Social Control,  Visual,  Winter

    National Security

    April 4, 2014 /

    A danger for the National Security? This picture is nothing special, but for the fact that while I was taking it a security guard at the European Parliament tried to stop me on the “National Security” excuse, by claiming that photos were not allowed. Minding the lesson of “Stand your ground” I countered politely the requests of the guard, by telling him: – First: shooting in public spaces is perfectly legal, – Second: there where no “no-photos allowed” signs, – Third: “I am a lawyer and a journalist. I checked both EU and Belgian Law and find nothing that could prevent me to do what I am doing. Could you…

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    Andrea Monti

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    @ Mediterranean Beach Games 2015 – Italian Anthem (and a primer on sport photography, part 1)

    September 22, 2015

    Don’t Forget!

    March 27, 2013

    Lightblade

    September 6, 2013
  • Bruxelles,  Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Winter

    Skating on Avenue Louise

    April 1, 2014 /

      The architecture of Avenue Louise is built to impress — symmetrical, imposing, wrapped in glass and concrete. It speaks the language of power, efficiency, and institutional gravitas. Yet here, cutting across the uniformity of its grid, a lone skateboarder defies gravity and symmetry alike. In mid-air, suspended between takeoff and landing, the young skater rewrites the function of space. This plaza wasn’t designed for movement like his — spontaneous, raw, unruly — yet it hosts it with unexpected grace. The stark concrete façade becomes a backdrop, not a boundary. This is the city as canvas, the act of skating as resistance and reinterpretation. While others walk briskly from meeting…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Chasing the Runner

    October 6, 2013

    A sample of the Carl Zeiss Jena 135/F4 Sonnar and a Fuji X-T3

    February 5, 2023

    The Restorer’s Nest

    June 27, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Doors&Windows,  Milan,  Winter

    Hanging Heart at via Olmetto

    March 31, 2014 /

    Taken in Milan, this photograph is built around a single point of chromatic and emotional focus — a small, glossy red heart suspended from the centre of an ornate iron grille. The restrained colour palette of the stone façade and dark metalwork works to its advantage, ensuring the heart becomes a magnetic anchor for the viewer’s gaze. The pattern of the wrought iron, a chain of interlocking circles bisected by vertical bars, lends the image symmetry and rhythm, subtly broken by the heart’s irregular organic shape. The composition is tightly framed, allowing no distraction from the relationship between object and setting. The verticals of the grille are aligned with precision,…

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

    June 16, 2014

    Too Late

    April 10, 2015

    The Expired Film Series – Episode 4 – Ferrania Solaris 100 – Dec. 2006 shot in August 2023

    September 3, 2023
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