A Photography Workshop With Gabrielle in Italy

I can write, without exaggeration, that every single photography client I've worked with has made me feel so very privileged to know them.

Gabrielle was no different to all those who came before her. And perhaps it's the fact that the workshops are all about photography &  travel.  Or that they happen in Italy or Antwerp or that they attract women who are ready to wander or already wandering.  Like-minded souls out there in the world.

I end up feeling like I'm working with old friends.  People I would choose to spend time with.  People who somehow manage to pack so much life into the hours we have to work together.

Gabrielle and I walked all over Genova, ate some divine food, met at Douce every morning for breakfast (and returned there whenever we could think of a reason).  We dined at Il Genovese and enjoyed it intensely, we explored Castelletto and Boccadasse, found exquisite gelato and took a million photographs too.

It was a special few days.  Grazie mille, Gabrielle!!

And so it is ... in Genova

The intensity of these days here in Italy have been quite incredible.  I have been teaching photography workshops in Genova and they have been everything ... a privilege, a challenge, so much fun, exhausting, exhilarating.

They have been about people ... about breakfasts at Douce while sitting outside in Piazza Matteotti, about the occasional aperitivo at Caffè Degli Specchi, and fresh take-away pasta, with sauces and parmesan cheese bought from the kind people at Pasta Fresca Fabio, in Via Di Canneto Il Lungo.

Tomorrow is my first 'day off' since arriving but that busy-ness hasn't been all about workshops and people, it has been about the fact I arrived in the city relaxed and happy to be back only to have that moment of horror when I realised, quite late in the day, that I had forgotten to pack the power cord for my laptop.  But you know that already...

In all my years of traveling with ridiculous amounts of equipment I have Never Ever forgotten my laptop cord.  Nor my phone cord (only discovered when I needed to recharge my phone yesterday).  I believe I may have left them on the same chair when finishing my packing at 4.30am that morning I left.  Mmmhmmm, and those comfortable walking shoes I own ...  don't ask me about how my feet were on Friday but honestly, never before has so much been left behind.

I was quite stressed when I flew.  That much is clear.  I believe I may develop some 'behaviours' as a result of 'the forgetting'.

But that aside, I realised again how much I love working with women on their photography.  I simply love it!   Often they have an instinct... a good eye for composition but a way of doing it all that somehow falls outside of the rules of 'technical'.  And it is this that seems to make it so much more difficult for them to own their way of seeing and capturing the world.

I should know ...

I'm so delighted with the work my clients have produced over these days.  I will publish some in the weeks ahead however tonight I must sleep so as to be up and out early ... for breakfast at Douce.

Ciao from this ancient city I consider the best in all of Italy.


Back in Genova ...

I'm back ... in Genova, slowly finding my feet after an epic couple of days.

Days that culminated in my discovering I hadn't packed the power cord for my laptop.  This was beyond terrible.  I could cope without it but preferred not to have to.

The big electronic shops were of no use.  I hadn't realised. And couriering mine over was going to be complicated by public holiday Monday and all kinds of other things too.

Then I remembered .  The phone guy had recommended a particular shop last time I needed something for my computer.  Tucked away in Vico Campetto, 3R, they're not easy to find unless someone tells you about them.

Once again their service was perfect and yes, it would be no problem, they could get me a Dell power cord.  The relief was intense.  All my notes are on my laptop, as is my music and, of course, it's my way of staying in touch with the world when I'm out and wandering.

I'm going to write more about Cosimini.  And maybe go back and get a photograph of the store.  They offer before-and-after assistance when you're purchasing that new electronic article, and all kinds of other technical services too.

As for now ... it's really good to be back in Genova. 

Really good.

Days of Quiet & Recovering

I have never had so many things go wrong on a journey as went wrong in Italy this time.

I came home skinnier, tired, and feeling a little bit defeated ... ready to tear off my wandering wings, buy myself a dog and stay home.  Writing of life.

But good food, warmth, and simply being home has allowed me to put myself back together.  Helped, I'm sure, by my lovely friend Inge who mailed me a much-longed for New Zealand movie.  I watched it on my first night home and loved Himiona Grace's film - The Pa Boys. 

And so it's Friday.  I picked up a couple of exciting new projects yesterday  ... inspiring me to download the last of my photographs from Liguria.  My new website is back on the table as that thing that must be done.  There was no time for anything creative while in Italy this time ... just a few photographs.  (The book was not completed).

So ... an end to the whining and on with everything else.

Photographed ... in the Carrugi, Genova

The author of Dear Miss Fletcher published one of my photographs, the one where I captured her at work in her beautiful city.

I saw her there in the distance and broke my promise not to photograph her.  But really, I would have deleted if she hadn't approved.  In this instance she felt it was the perfect photograph of her and here you have her.

I still remember her walking me through streets I had walked so often but without an intimate knowledge of the secrets they held.  And so often she would turn to me and tell me, 'I have something to show you ...'  

And so often, she did.