Via Maestri Comacini, 22100 Como CO, Italy June 2022

About the Photographs

All of the photographs on this site were taken during my walks through the villages, towns and cities of Italy. They are not meant to win awards or impress professional photographers. They are simply the kind of pictures many of us take on holiday, moments that catch the eye and feel worth remembering.

My hope is that, by watching the slideshows, you will get a real sense of what it feels like to be there, to wander the streets, stand in the piazzas and look up at the churches, rather than just reading about these places in a guidebook.

 To make the slideshows work properly, many of the photos had to be adjusted to fit a 1920 by 1080 frame so they would fill the screen. That sometimes meant compromising on the original composition. Photographing the outside of churches and cathedrals in Italy can also be quite a challenge. They are often tucked into narrow streets or tight piazzas, making it almost impossible to step back far enough to capture the whole building. And somehow, there always seems to be a white van parked exactly where you wish it wasn’t.

When I first started taking photos for the site, I used a Canon G16 on autofocus. From 2019 to 2024, I used a Canon EOS M5, again keeping things simple with autofocus. Over the past two years, I’ve mostly used my Samsung A15 phone  and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the results. If you browse through the site, you may notice how the clarity of the images improves over the years as the equipment changes.

I have never thought of myself as a photographer, and I have never learned much about the technical side of things, such as Aperture, f-stops, shutter speeds and all the rest. Even if I had, I doubt I would have the patience to adjust settings constantly while out walking and exploring. For me, the enjoyment comes from the walk itself,  and from capturing the moment as I see it.

Although I believe I have gathered many rather beautiful photographs over the years, I do not see their beauty as something created by the photographer. The true beauty does not lie in who took the picture, nor in the technical skill behind it. The real beauty is not in the photograph itself  it is in the country that the photograph represents.

That country is Italy

Italy, in all its countless facets, is where the beauty truly resides. It is found in the golden light that falls across ancient stone buildings at sunset, in the quiet charm of a lakeside village, in the grandeur of historic cities, and in the simple details of everyday life, a flower-filled balcony, a narrow cobbled street, a bustling market square. Each region has its own character, its own colours, its own atmosphere.

The camera merely captures a fraction of what is already there. It does not create the beauty; it reflects it. The landscapes, the architecture, the people, the culture, these are the true artists. The photographs are simply small windows through which that beauty can be glimpsed. If these images appear beautiful, it is because Italy itself is beautiful,  diverse, timeless, and endlessly inspiring.

Italy, in all its countless facets, is where the beauty truly resides. It is found in the golden light that falls across ancient stone buildings at sunset, in the quiet charm of a lakeside village, in the grandeur of historic cities, and in the simple details of everyday life, a flower-filled balcony, a narrow cobbled street, a bustling market square. Each region has its own character, its own colours, its own atmosphere.

The camera merely captures a fraction of what is already there. It does not create the beauty; it reflects it. The landscapes, the architecture, the people, the culture, these are the true artists. The photographs are simply small windows through which that beauty can be glimpsed. If these images appear beautiful, it is because Italy itself is beautiful, diverse, timeless, and endlessly inspiring.

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