A look back (first published on 6 January 2015)
The lone bright light in the left third of the picture is the Mt Vesuvius Observatory. It is minutes before the end of 2014.
It was cold and seconds off midnight. A sub-zero wind fleeced coats, squeezed eyeballs and jumped camera shots into shaky blurs. Plenty of reason to go indoors but none of us did.
The view from our hill of steeply barked pines was incredible. We could see right across the night to the lights on the opposite shore of this mythical bay.
We stamped frozen feet as we stood suspended between geography, history, and two calendar years – Vesuvius to our front, Roman remains beneath and behind us, and Naples about to mark the annual switch.
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Originally posted on The Phraser:
The lone bright light in the left third of the picture is the Mt Vesuvius Observatory. It is minutes before the end of 2014. It was cold and seconds off midnight. A sub-zero wind fleeced coats, squeezed eyeballs and jumped camera shots into shaky blurs. Plenty of reason to go…
A look back (first published 23 December 2014): since this post was written Gonzalo Higuaín has deserted Napoli and gone to play for Juventus.
Napoli’s San Paolo Stadium – home of football passion
“Arsenal?”
Luigi’s eyes darkened.
“Arsenal?” we stared at our son.
Luigi’s eyes flashed.
“Arsenal,” the son repeated with a grin. What was he thinking? Panic seized me – this was Napoli.
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A look back (first published on 12 December 2014)
Christ Church in Naples all prepared for its Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
We could have been in England – the pure voice from the shadows behind us lifted the words into the church, floated them high above the candlelit pews and on towards the altar.
“Once in Royal David’s City …”
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The Bay of Naples, Italy
Experience, memory and time frame our lives. We exist together and are shaped by them but are unable to catch hold of any one of them … we’re like flotsam on a storm sea.
I look back at my life and know its chapters have changed me, that each has altered the book of me they belong to. Now there’s a new chapter to add – Naples.
A look back (first published on 10 December 2014): we had been on the outskirts of Naples a little under four months at this point. These were the hands that caught my eye – all I would do differently now is give each photograph more space.
The shoe polisher at the heart of the commute on Via Toledo
The morning walk to work files to and fro through the city. On a good day some will stop to add a shine to their shoes.
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A look back (first published 3 December 2014): I posted this photograph piece after discovering Via dei Mille in the Chiaia district of Naples. There are other ‘wealthy corners’ in the city but it’s hard to beat the seafront area as a location.
The light on the sea in Naples is like oxygen for the mind. It has space and calm, and is free of dark cobbles and hectic life.
Here are some pictures of a few of the quieter, wealthier corners of Naples.
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A look back (first published 2 December 2014): an attempt to catch in a handful some of the history that has shaped Naples, Italy – a city whose music and tailoring still fashion many of us … often without us even knowing.
Pulcinella on the Lungomare in Naples
Punch-drunk but still standing Naples has borne the attentions and abuses of history with steely grace. Today she is like the coffee she serves – undiluted and unapologetic.
Here’s an attempt at a ten point profile of the city.
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A look back (first published 25 November 2014): I think this piece should have gone under the heading “In Search of Vesuvius” because that is how it begins.
Vesuvius from the Castell dell’Ovo
We should have known better – nothing is obvious about Vesuvius.
The volcano has sat across the bay from us all summer – big, blue and balmy. It reclines like some artist’s prop, a balance to the curve of sea and islands, a backdrop for the scuttle of life on its slopes and down to the shore.
It looks benign, the perfect place for an afternoon stroll, perhaps even a villa or two.
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A look back (first published 18 November 2014)
Father and son – the third and fourth generations of the Squillace family of Omega srl (with the founders in the background)
Italy equals leather in the same way that England equals gardens. In Rome and Florence well-ordered workshops are easy to find on the main tourist streets – in Naples, amongst the best in business especially for gloves, there is no sign.
Naples never hands anything to you.
The maps app took us to the exact address and … nothing. No shop window, no big sign, no smell of leather, no sounds of tapping and stitching, no gloves. We were up in the top end of the city and Omega srl had vanished.
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