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Back On Stage (With a Damaged Lens)
Last 25 October I went back on the (back)stage of the Teatro Marrucino, one of the 29 Italy’s ‘teatri di tradizione’, for the opening of the opera season, which started with Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot which, for a number of reasons, proved to be more challenging than usual.
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A flamenco virtuoso: Daniele Bonaviri
This is another photo I took at the same concert where I also photographed the accordion and violin duo about that I wrote about in my previous post and in this case, too, I have made the same mistake of caring more about photography than the music. This shot features Daniele Bonaviri, one of Italy’s most talented flamenco tocaores, opening the second part of the concert. He played in trio with another flamenco guitarist, Monica De Luca and Stefano Rapone, a classic guitar player. Taking this one has more been challenging than shooting the photo of the two musicians who played in the first part of the concert. Classical and,…
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The battle of the accordion and the violin
Feeling music performed live is a unique experience that reconnects us with our primal self, the one that lived in communities where music was part of rituals and marked the key moments in the life of a group. This is why I am a firm believer that people shouldn’t take photos during concerts — unless it for professional reasons — as it breaks the emotional involvement and the profound connection with the musicians.I am, therefore, deeply annoyed by the myriad of smartphones and tablet raised above heads to (poorly) capture the performances, obstructing the view of those seated behind. Then, on a late July evening, I realised that I was…
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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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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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Even Venice Is Powerless Against A Smartphone
Taking meaningful photos in Venice is quite challenging because the strong déjà vu effect can blind you to the city’s beauty. I’m not talking about the myriad selfie-taking tourists who want to take home — or publish on their social media profiles — a small part of the city’s soul. They are not expected to understand even the fundamentals of photography, and they don’t actually need this knowledge to achieve their goal. I have no problem with that. People with ‘heavy calibre’, though, are a different matter. If they’re not going to walk around with massive bodies and lenses just for show, they should at least know a thing or…
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Why Writing About Photography Matters (or: The Importance of Re-inventing the Wheel)
This is the second of my series of short essays on photography. The title might sounds like a pre-emptive justification for clogging the Internet with yet another personal babbling about what photography is supposed to be, how photos should be taken, and so on. Actually, indeed, if one changes the names accordingly in T.S. Eliot’s quote (Dante and Shakespeare divide the world between them. There is no third) it become clear that there is little left to say about photography (with the exception of technical reports on cameras and lenses’ arcane features or performance essentially part of the industry marketing spins.) So, where is the point in keeping on writing…
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After the Rain
In the early days of April a few days of heavy rain were all that lasted to make the river Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy, rise up to the limit of its banks. The raise was not significant, just enough to make the water quietly flow on the adjacent land. Still it caused problem and inconvenience for the boats that were small enough to be lift or submerged by the water. I am no expert in fluid or civil engineering nor do I hold extreme views on environmental preservation. Still, I can’t stop thinking about the possible correlation between a poor set of choices such as reducing the…
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A Knitting Shop in Rovereto
During a casual walk in Rovereto, a lovely town in the Trento province, I stumbled upon a knitting shop. The display was full of bags and other items for sale, only, it was not a just a shop, but an actual factory where a the craftman was working on his weaving loom. In an age where mass production is the norm, luxury is often equated with displaying a logo rather than enjoying a product’s quality, it is almost hypnotic to witness the transformation of raw materials into useful and attractive items through human ingenuity. So, after spending a few minutes observing how the individual threads were being woven into a…
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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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Pentacon 50/1.8 and Nikon Z5 – An Empirical Field Test
This field-test is, as the others I have published here, absolutely subjective, empirical and lacking any scientific basis. Since I couldn’t find anything interesting to photograph I decided to take pictures more focused on showing the lens features rather than creative or interesting subjects.This is why each photo was taken wide open and at F8. Moreover, to make a comparison possible, I also shot some of the mannequins featured in the Zeiss Biogon and Minolta 35mm lenses posts. Finally, as far as post-production is concerned, I used the RGB curves to set the black and grey tones, and tweaked micro-contrast.
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Zeiss ZM Biogon 35/2 and Nikon Z5. An Empirical Field Test
This is an empirical field test of the Zeiss ZM T* 35/2 Biogon lens mounted on a Nikon Z5. As with all my technical tests, this one doesn’t deal with MTF, coma, fall-offs, etc., as I’d rather focus — pun intended — on the results.
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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.
