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Andrea Monti

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  • 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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    Not AI-made…

    September 17, 2022

    Orange Scarf

    November 9, 2014

    Multitasking

    February 10, 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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    Servicing a Beretta 98FS

    October 13, 2019

    The dilemma

    January 11, 2013

    An Old School Workstation

    September 12, 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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    Serva padrona @ Teatro Marrucino

    October 1, 2023

    Guarding Democracy

    June 14, 2023

    Mir-20 20mm 3.5 on a Pentax K1-II – A Field Test

    January 18, 2025
  • 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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    DSLR film scanning: episode three

    January 24, 2023

    Landed

    December 19, 2013

    Overexposed?

    March 14, 2013
  • 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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    When Tilted Photos Work

    December 18, 2019

    Clandestine Seagull

    November 24, 2013

    Waiting For The Bus On Las Ramblas

    August 19, 2014
  • 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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    The Referees

    June 6, 2013

    Who Needs A Wedding Photographer Anymore?

    May 29, 2014

    Oops!

    July 4, 2014
  • 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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    Alone, Together…

    June 19, 2013

    Mulberry Street, When Benito II Was Still There…

    July 7, 2014

    Fast Food Loneliness in Nagoya…

    July 17, 2019
  • 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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    Shooting Sanda (Chinese Kickboxing) Bouts

    June 26, 2025

    Balilla

    July 17, 2015

    Inside an Old Gym

    February 16, 2015
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Winter

    Branches On The Wall

    December 10, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Late for Lunch

    March 26, 2014

    Waiting for a Future to Tell

    April 18, 2013

    An interesting reading

    May 13, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Doors&Windows,  Winter

    Winter Leaves

    December 9, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Caparezza – Live@Palamaggetti Roseto degli Abruzzi

    February 18, 2018

    The Boat That Never Left

    September 26, 2019

    Giorgio Pasotti – Racconti disumani@Teatro Marrucino

    February 28, 2022
  • 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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    Red Dot

    January 21, 2015

    Pentax – In Praise of Usability of Cameras and Lenses

    March 3, 2024

    @ Mediterranean Beach Games 2015 – Italy Beach Soccer Team’s Goalkeeper (and a primer on sport photography, part 2)

    September 24, 2015
  • 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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    Parisian’s Bags

    April 6, 2014

    When the parking’s lost

    May 16, 2013

    The Abused Balcony

    February 17, 2014
  • 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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    Andrea Monti

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    The Misplaced Buoy

    April 26, 2014

    Traffic Master

    December 19, 2016

    DxO Pure Raw empirical test

    November 22, 2022
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People

    Leaving Home

    December 5, 2014 /

    Distortion in this case matched the reality: walking beneath modern high-rises can feel surreal, oppressive even. The warped geometry bends the building into a looming wave that seems to crash down on the lone figure below—an ordinary person dragging a trolley bag, perhaps on the way back from errands or returning from a short trip. The photograph captures a dichotomy I often return to: the indifference of urban architecture versus the vulnerability of human movement. I didn’t wait for this person. I framed the architecture first, then let the rhythm of the street fill the gap. When he entered the frame, posture slightly hunched, shadow tracing behind, I released the…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Autumn Leaves

    September 8, 2014

    Becoming a Human Tripod

    January 9, 2017

    Get Ready for The Duty

    July 13, 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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    Andrea Monti

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    Waiting For The Elections

    June 24, 2014

    The Traffic Controller

    November 20, 2013

    The Seagull And The Sentinel

    October 27, 2014
  • 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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    Is The Sky Falling On Their Heads?

    August 1, 2013

    Through the Fog

    January 5, 2014

    Niccolò Fabi – Meno Per Meno Tour 2023 – Live@Teatro Massimo, Pescara

    May 7, 2023
  • 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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    Andrea Monti

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    Last Puff Before the Ride

    December 26, 2015

    Portrait of Keyboard Player

    May 18, 2014

    5 frames with a Canon R6 Mk II and its RF 50/1,2 L USM

    September 28, 2024
  • Buildings,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Gates&Fences,  Rome,  Winter

    Guest Are Welcome!

    December 1, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Shooting Fast Alfa Romeo on a Race Track

    October 22, 2024

    Urban Desolation

    September 18, 2014

    Late Afternoon Workers

    December 23, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Doors&Windows,  Winter

    The Drying Machine

    November 30, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Prisoner’s View from the Sospiri’s Bridge

    September 25, 2017

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

    January 23, 2016

    An Altar for the Propaganda Machine

    November 17, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Restaurants&Bar

    A Banner

    November 29, 2014 /

    I photographed this weathered sign for its layered character. The hand-painted letters, once bold, now bear the marks of time—faded paint, chipped wood, and a patina that speaks of decades of exposure. Its message is straightforward, advertising a taverna and pointing to an address, but as an object it is also a record of vernacular design, where function and personality coexist. The composition was kept simple: a tight frame, centred to let the text dominate without distraction. By eliminating the surrounding wall almost entirely, the sign becomes the sole subject, demanding attention to its texture and imperfections. The small decorative leaves and the script at the bottom break the rigidity…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Just A Phone Call – 1

    February 18, 2015

    Somewhere in Japan

    May 19, 2014

    The Worst Moment to Fix a Shoe’s Problem

    April 14, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People

    Pensive

    November 28, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Ceci N’Est Pas Une Pipe

    September 27, 2014

    Pure Joy. An Essay in Street-Photography

    May 25, 2014

    Ready For Lunch

    November 1, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Rome,  Winter

    Red Bag, Black Shoes

    November 27, 2014 /

    This frame was taken at street level, quite literally. I crouched, waiting for the traffic to pause, and caught her mid-stride—ankle exposed, bag swinging low, oblivious to the lens just metres away. The choice of crop was deliberate. I wanted anonymity, but not detachment. By excluding the face, the image becomes less about the individual and more about the semiotics of presence—gesture, attire, movement, and the way we carve out identity with things. The red bag dominates the composition, not just chromatically but structurally. Its synthetic gloss, reptilian texture, and almost architectural form turn it into a visual anchor. It’s loud, assertive, unapologetic. And then, in counterpoint, the black shoes—quiet,…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Who Is The Machine?

    August 5, 2019

    The Naughty Customer’s Place

    September 28, 2013

    A Bad Experiment

    August 26, 2016
  • Buildings,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Rome,  Winter

    A Lamppost

    November 26, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Frank Gambale All Stars – Live@Teatro Marrucino

    November 22, 2023

    Sea Anemones Shot With A Cheap Kit

    August 20, 2014

    Menu Meditation

    February 16, 2018
  • Buildings,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Rome,  Winter

    Life Within the Post Office

    November 24, 2014 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Much Too Short a Ladder

    October 17, 2013

    Avid Readers

    August 17, 2013

    Beach Party

    January 22, 2022
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