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Three Shots in Franco Summa’s Studio
Franco Summa (1938-2020) was an Italian architect and artist born in Pescara, Italy, where he realised most of his artistic vision. Summa’s works have been showcased in two Biennale di Venezia (1976 and 1978) and many other locations, in Italy and abroad, and are now preserved by a foundation in his name, based in his studio —now officially acknowledged by the Ministry of culture as a Casa-Museo (Home-Museum)— where I shot these photos.
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Which Photo Did I Shoot?
Post-processing — and cropping, in particular — is one of the most discussed topics in photography. The often heated discussions involve ‘purists’ — who claim that a photo should not be altered but for miminal exposure, highlights and other similar tweaking — and ‘artists’ whose tenet is that only the final result matters. In principle, I think that both sides have a point. A photo taken by a journalist should reflect ‘reality’, so it should not be composed and/or edited to tell a different story. By contrast, a photo whose goal is to tell a story should not be subject to such constraints and the photographer should not be blamed…
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On Insincerity
This is a rant. It was caused by the umpteenth self-promotional, vertically shot from above video made toting a smartphone, in which, after the hideous opening — ‘hey guys’ — the main, and only, character promotes a personal achievement while pretending merely to ‘share a — God forbid — thought’. I usually try to be factual in my writing, stating my case in a clear and concise manner, always focusing on the merits of an issue and never blaming a person or a category. But.
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When Faith Is Gone
Few social habits rely more heavily on the embodiment of symbols to convey a message than religion —or religious beliefs. It doesn’t matter what faith one believes in, or if one believes in a faith at all. The power of the embodied gods —whether in their appearance or in abstract forms— elicits a reaction that doesn’t come from the prefrontal cortex. Indeed, projecting personal feelings or worldviews onto an object is not peculiar to religion. However, there is a substantial difference between worshipping a branded car or the uniform of a football club and a symbol that reminds us of the inevitability of our final journey. In fact, Italy is…
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Let the Party Started
2 June is Italian Republic Day. The official ritual follows its usual order: the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, followed by the military parade along Via dei Fori Imperiali, near the Colosseum. This year, however, the celebrations will also include a familiar exercise in civic spectacle: the predictable procession of distinguished figures from sport, the arts, and culture, assembled to give ceremony the appearance of public emotion. The chosen location is the esplanade of the Quirinale, the seat of the Presidency of the Republic, where a large temporary stage is being built, partly obscuring the Presidential building. In the background are the multicolor patches…
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The Next Emperor of Foro Italico
Late afternoon in Rome in mid-May. The Foro Italico hosts the Italian Open, where the gotha of the international tennis entertains the audience, while Piazza del Popolo a court where people are given, for free, access to pre-qualification matches, champions’ training sessions and exhibitions. The stars have not yet come out and the champions have not left their hotels, so in the meantime, young athletes are training in the hope that one day they will become the next emperors of Rome themselves.
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A Missed Opportunity
Seen from the outside the scene was too perfect to be true. A truck stuck in a narrow street near Trevi’s Fountain, in Rome, trying to negotiate its way out, and the ad on the backdoor claiming that ‘sometimes being bottled is a pleasure’ —in Italian, ‘bottled’ is also a synonym for ‘stuck’ or ‘trapped’. This is what defines ‘the moment’: the ability to recognise a peculiar combination of shapes, light and meaning that gives rise to unique photography. Unfortunately, or better, because of my poor composition, I failed to convey the double entendre I meant to capture with this photo. In fact, it did not include the left part of the…
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A Juggler in Bruxelles
Bruxelles, late afternoon of a spring day. The Gare du Midi is just a few hundred metres away. The traffic flows dully, green is a go, red is a stop. Cars halt at pedestrian crossings when someone approaches. Nobody tries to go through the junction stealing the few fractions of a second between the lights. The only moment of life —or chaos to some— in this ordinary end of an ordinary day equal to countless others in the past and future, is a street performer: a juggler trying to earn a few euros by showing off his prowness at bouncing a soccer ball. Sometimes he indulges too long on his…
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MARTian Stairs
The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto —MART, in short— is a place that definitely worth a visit, should you be traveling across the Trentino-Alto Adige region of Italy. Its main facility, an architectural masterpiece in itself, is located in Rovereto, a small town about half an hour (by car) from Trento. Unlike many small, old Italian towns, which often only have one main attraction, such as a monument, castle or nobleman’s palace, Rovereto is different. The town itself is an attraction, as it was the place that Fortunato Depero — one of the giants of ‘Second Futurism’ — made its centre of gravity, by opening…
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A Composition’s Dilemma in Black and White
This photo, taken in the centre of Padua, shows a composition’s dilemma. The idea was to explore the usual technique of ‘framing’ a subject within an architectural structure to make it resemble a painting. Actually, though, the main subject, the biker and his vehicle, is more of a disturbance than something worth including in the picture. He runs from right to left, an unnatural direction. Indeed, since we are accustomed to look from left to right and not vice versa, the bikes seems to go outside the frame rather than into it. Furthermore, I should have waited for the subject to be right in the centre of the image. Had…
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Carl Zeiss Jena Triotar 85/4 and Nikon Z5 – An Empirical Field Test
This empirical field test of a fairly well-preserved CZJ Triotar 85/4 lens confirms its well-known performance, although a final judgement needs to wait the lens to be serviced by master Adriano Lolli in order to clean veiled glasses. At F4, central sharpness is moderate yet usable, with a lack of microcontrast. By contrast, the corners are softer. Flare resistance is suboptimal by modern standards, while colour rendition is accurate enough, although robust tweaks are needed in post-production. This photo of the Leica store display in Via dei Due Macelli, Rome, is a flare torture test. The bright, emissive Leica sign against a dark background, plus additional reflections and obstructions, creates…
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Behind the Quirinale: Order After Dark
I took this photo behind the Quirinale Palace, the official residence of the President of the Republic of Italy while one night I was taking a casual walk along Via XX Settembre, heading towards Piazza Navona, passing through Quirinale Hill, Montecitorio (the Parliament building) and then the Senate. Instead of using the main streets, I often like to venture off the beaten track. In this case, there is nothing actually ‘hidden’ or ‘mysterious’ about what can be seen. This is why nobody thinks of cutting through these streets and venturing into these small alleys. However, to the eyes of a photographer, the lack of crowds offers many opportunities. In this…
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Minolta MC W Rokkor-HG 35/2.8 and Nikon Z5 – An Empirical Field-Test
This is another episode featuring a Nikon Z camera and a vintage lens. This time, I’m using the Minolta MC Rokkor-HG 35/2.8, which I recently took out of the cupboard where I keep my old manual lenses. The following shots have all been taken wide open, in no particular order and are intended to demonstrate how the lens performs in different conditions. The Z5 was instructed to use a flat picture profile and the photos were post-processed to the final results should not be considered as a true ‘rough’ example of the lens’ character.
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Leitz Summicron 50/2 and Nikon Z5 – An empirical field test
A casual stroll around the Trevi Fountain gave me the chance to experiment with an unusual combination: an old Summicron 50/2 and a relatively new Nikon Z5. The opportunity materialised in a photo of one of the crowd-control team members regulating the overwhelming flow of tourists and ensuring that none of them were engaging in vandalism or pranks. In short, I am very pleased with the results. I owned a Leica M9 (which I happily sold) for a few years , and I can’t actually say that I miss it. My only regret was that I could only use my lenses on APS-C mirrorless cameras, such as Fujis. I knew…
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Knowledge in the Atelier (or: The First Shot of 2026)
This is my first attempt at taking a photo in 2026. I took it late one afternoon in my hometown, where I’m staying for a few days. My aim was to continue experimenting with the Nikon Z5 and various manual lenses. This time, I used the Nikkor 35 AF-D F2 — an old lens that is still very capable. Technically, the AF-D has autofocus. However, since I am using a ‘dumb’ adapter, I can only use the lens manually.
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Three-Card Monte in Rome
Every now and then, Three-Card Monte scammers appear in unexpected places such as the narrow cobblestone streets between the Parliament and the Pantheon, in the centre of Rome. This was a textbook execution. The game was fast-paced. Hooks pretended to be casual passers-by and traded 50-euro banknotes as if they were Monopoly money, hoping to lure victims into bidding. A muscle was monitoring the scene, ready to intervene at the first sign of trouble. I tried posing as a casual observer, but there was a high risk of being spotted and confronted by the unfriendly lad at my left, so I was unable to set up a properly composed shot…
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How Nissan Crossing Has Changed Over Time
As a petrolhead, I always make a point of visiting Nissan Crossing whenever I’m in Tokyo, even if only for a few hours or half a day. Situated in Ginza, one of Tokyo’s most exclusive districts, Nissan Crossing is an open space in which the car manufacturer displays its concept cars and premium models.
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Relentless – A One Shot Story
When in Tokyo, I don’t go to Shibuya unless I have a specific errand to run. Least of the usual ‘things are not what they used to be’ lament, the place never struck me as it deserved more than a cursory glance. This time, however, I had a specific photographic objective: to capture the Shibuya backdrop, i.e. things and people that keep the place running ‘smoothly’ which are in plain sight but go unnoticed by tourists, residents and passers-by. Crowd management and safety control are two such things.
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On Prizes and Awards (a Long and Tiring Musing)
Prizes and awards are ubiquitous also in the photography world. There is an award for everything, and I wouldn’t be suprised to discover an award for the best photo award as well. When we’re just starting out on our photographic journey, it’s natural to think about entering a competition. I am not an exception, in fact I tried a few myself and I also got one honorable mention for the photo featuring this post in a competition organised by a local chapter of the Italian Photoamateur Association (FIAF).
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A Moto Guzzi Falcone and an Expired Kodak Portra 160 Roll
Shot with a Pentax SMC FA 50/1,4 and a Pentax Z-20 loaded with an expired Kodak Portra 160, this photo portrays a Moto Guzzi Falcone. The Falcone has a special place in the history of Italian motor industry. It was successful in both the civilian market and the military/law enfrocement sector. So strong was its appeal in this latter community that the Polizia Stradale (roughly, the highway patrol) kept it in service until the seventies despite the official manufacturing ceased at the end of the sixties.
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A Few More Shots From An Urban Exploration Trip
Hip-hoppers and skateboarders are often seen together in many urban landscapes. Actually, these performing arts come from different US social and geographical milieus. However, in a world where different paths of life, cultures and traditions matter less and less, and everything is a ‘fusion’, this doesn’t look like an issue. So, while wandering around in search of some subject to test a 50mm Summicron M mounted on a Fuji X-T4, I was fortunate enough to kill two birds with one stone.
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On Film Simulation or ‘is fiction more real than reality, and why should we care?’
Simulations have turned an inevitable fact —using the chosen brand and type of film for an entire roll— into an aesthetic tool allowing the selection of the most appropriate image rendition for each single exposure. Using simulations is like having all the different kinds of film in the same roll with all the convenience of digital technology, opening a huge number of creative possibilities. Initially published on 35mmc.com This is what the standard marketing claims for software simulations are based upon, but is that actually so? As a matter of fact, the answer is yes, but if we look at the matter from a different perspective, we should consider some…
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On Detachment. Or ‘If You Love Something, Set It Free’ (cit. Sting)
A number of philosophies and religions preach the virtue of detachment from things as a path to enlightenment. When applied to gear, this advice won’t only save your soul —if you believe there’s one— but also your money and, last but not least, your photograph experience. This means avoiding the development of ‘feelings’ towards a camera or a lens that shift from appreciating their value as a tool to some sort of ‘personal engagement’. Initially published on 35mmc.com As odd as it sounds, such an attitude towards an inanimate object is more frequent than one may imagine. A paradigmatic case is the attachment of AIBO’s owners to their robotic pets:…
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One Shot (Plus One) Story – All That Lasts
These three bags of rubble are all that remains of a ‘renovated’ building. By chance, though, I took a photo of the building as it was being demolished. The difference in the colours of the rooms caught my attention. I wondered why people had chosen to paint each room in different colours. Maybe the blue was for the children? And the green was for the kitchen? And what about the red and the yellow? These colours tell the story of a family, a story that just ended when their home was demolished.
