Lari, small town in Tuscany

A scooter parked in front of the door, a beautiful house, three men talking outside the homemade pasta local shop and the street paved with carved stones. A typical image of Italy, of those you can especially find in a small and charming town in Tuscany, as there are many. In this case we are in Lari, not far from Pisa, up on the hills. We were visiting the castle, which may not entirely deserves it, but the town was very neat indeed

I realize that when I'm wondering somewhere in the world with camera in hand, I almost instinctively attempt to freeze situations that represent the lifestyle of the place I'm visiting, rather than the monuments and historical pieces. I get more and more attracted into the details, and a detail for me is a window, a door or a lamp that stick out form a corner.
Tuscany for this kind of photography is full of high quality opportunity. A true paradise for those who love this art

The Italian lure company Molix debuts in Japan

The Italian lure company Molix is proud to announce a new partner for the distribution of his products in Japan. Since August 20th Paolo Cartocci Uchida
(cannot hide the Italian origins) has decided to share the journey of Molix,
taking on distribution and promotion of Molix products in the country of the
Rising Sun.

Molix staff, who have always been paying special attention to the Japanese quality and creativity in lures design, has finally reached its goal which is part of a process that includes a broader proposal of Molix products and business alliances, in order to make these items available to a large audience of enthusiasts.

The cooperation Molix-Uchida will also be an incentive towards continued innovation and development of products for the Japanese market.
Paolo Cartocci Uchida - Molix is based in Hiroshima, a place of spirituality and memory. A city evoking dramatic events, but at the same time representing a
symbol of rebirth.

The percentage of Italian blood that flows in Uchida’s veins will help him convey to the Japanese Molix’ values and style, for sure not too far away from Japanese’s’ own.

We will keep you updated on the news. In the meantime we suggest you often visit the Website:

Molix Japan

How can you give life to a block of marble?

How can you give life to a block of marble? Well, sculptors do. They know how to make a 2 tons piece of unanimated rock turn into something alive. Michelangelo fired his hammer against his Moses once it was finished asking ”Perché non parli?” (Why don’t you talk?), and if you are like me and like sculptures, you will be probably staring at a statue in awe mouth open and with your head going blank.

I’m not a great fan of paintings, or I should better say not as much as I am of sculptures. Classic sculptures are my favorites, from the ancient Greeks and Romans masterpieces to Donatello. Funny to admit it; being a photographer or at least someone who is in love with photography and working on his learning process, painting should be the thing to look at with more attention. The use of light, then rule of thirds, the search for the third dimension, all valuable inputs any photog should grab from the master painters. Yet it is harder for me to understand how a man can sculpt the body of The David and Goliath, than painting The Last Supper. Probably I have the wrong concept that if you make a mistake while working on your canvas you can go back and somehow fix it, but if the scalpel knocks out too much marble your work has gone for good.

Now, just to make something clear I’m not an educated lover of sculpture, paintings or art in general. Yet I grew up in a city like Rome and spent long summer holydays in Tuscany, hence art and architectural beauties where around me all the time. I’m pretty sure that my small brain and my short sighted eyes absorbed all that beauty like sponges, and stored it somewhere. Now it floats to the surface and every once in a while, when I have the chance to witness shows of manmade wonders I breath it deeply, and if I have the camera with me I grab my vision of it.

Wandering around the Vatican Museums for a whole day has been such a grateful experience that I almost thanked my wife for dragging me there. I was scared to go, mid August, crowded with people, sticky hot… not a great plan. My longing to see the museum was being beaten by my laziness, but thank God I was not alone. To my surprise, once inside the Museum I was alone. Not that the thousands of people grazing around have gone at once, just that when I put my eye behind the viewfinder of my Nikon everything softened out and quieted down.

My wife had her ear glued to the audio guide and never interrupted me in my inspired journey through those wonders. I was literally absent, walking on a cloud and filling GB of images. Thus, I wasn’t shooting like a madman; neither was I looking for the most famous statues or masterpieces. I mostly shot what I liked, the way I liked it and using the available light as much as I could. Looking back at the images I have the exact proof of what I’m now stating so confidently. The only real good images I have are those I shot with the most passionate feeling, being attracted by the details or the rim of light coming through the windows, or the composition I managed to get by moving around it and profoundly looking for the best possible angle (at least for me).

Last but not least I shall not forget the editing work in Lightroom. I couldn’t be happier of my reading of David duChemin book “Vision & Voice”. His work is having a profound influence in the developing of my images and especially for things like sculptures, I believe that the editing process is utterly important and I tried to take care of it the best I could. I hope that they manage to convey what I want them to, and the way I felt about them.

There’s still a long way to go but we’re working hard J

Molix, Italian design for lures

Let’s put it this way, if Italians are famous around the globe for their magnificent styling, design and architecture, why they cannot become the best lure designers in the planet?
I guess you guys are familiar with Ferrari, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, Armani, Versace, Scavolini and many other famous names and brands born and developed in my country. It’s something that we, as Italians are pretty proud of, can’t hide that.

Now, a group of crazy fishermen decided that it was about time to do something with a very high standard in the lure design field.

This is how and why Molix was born. Produce the best lures with original designs, no copycat or stolen ideas, with the best possible quality. So good they can rival the highest Japanese standards, and if possible, beat them. Molix Lures come for 100% Italian ideas, design and investments, mixed with Asian high tech quality manufacturing.

One of the owners of the company one day told me: “A Japanese guy said to us that we had a crazy idea - “The Italians are good at making ledgering and Bolognese rods, but they will never make good artificial lures, this is Japan’s business.” I couldn’t disagree more and we have hundreds of examples that show exactly the opposite. If we can build a Ducati we can sure make a 15€ plastic lure that fishermen will enjoy using and that will catch fish for them.

Nothing is impossible 

Rome. Home?

Even though I was born in Florence, Rome is the place where I have spent most of my life. My house is still there, as my family. Now I'm based in Madrid, a city I like, and a country, Spain, that gave me a family, my adorable wife and daughter and a great job, which I love. Thus, Rome will always be Rome, home..I mean...you understand me.

Rome is a tough place to live. Traffic, pollution, very bad logistics, chaos, a lot of bureaucracy, you name it. Is supposed to be a big capital, probably some believe is THE capital and still has not a decent Subway service. Every time they start digging a hole there's a million ruins awaiting for them. For every short section of underground tunnel in Rome, they built a complete new line in Madrid. The pace is different, Rome seem to run fast in the streets, where everybody drives like Valentino Rossi (bikes are a big deal in Rome BTW) or Fernando Alonso, and yet, when it comes to build something, everything goes in slow motion. Is true, I now live in a city that moves fast, has an active and hard working major, and is able to complete very important works in a blink of an eye. I'm spoiled. But Rome is slow. Can't deny it. Is slow by all means, by any comparison.

Yet, I firmly believe that is THE most beautiful city in the world. Having had the chance to see a bit of this old planet, I cannot stop wondering at the Capital's beauties. The mix of very old, old and dramatic modern mess is stunning.

The narrow streets in Trastevere and the gigantic Coliseum, St Peter, and the Tevere river, a huge and unfortunately very polluted vein that flows through the city dressed in a green from another planet. It was called "Il Biondo Tevere" by the Romans. The blond river. I'm still wondering where that golden color has gone, but I know it has gone for good.

Being a Roman I rarely had the chance to properly visit the city. I've been here and there but there's always that sense of.. : "I'm here all the time, I can go and see it another day!" Wrong! Mistake! You end up seeing nothing, neither today nor tomorrow, and you miss some spectacular stuff.

Funny enough, it has been thanks to the assignment for a Spanish photo magazine that I HAD to go and see my city. Move my ass. Explore it, grab the light and the sight and put them together in form of digital files. This happened in different occasions. I had the winter and the rain and the summer and the sun. I wandered around the ruins and among the people, walked the high street and hid in the shade of the little "vicoli" near Piazza Navona. The main target was a decent shot but the truth is that I found myself mouth agape looking at what I have been missing for some good 40 years of my dumb life.

For several reasons I didn't go to Rome too often but chances are I will be there again soon. The grandmother wants to see her granddaughter and I need to get back to refresh my Italian, that is now melting in a dangerous mix with the Spanish and it scares the hell out of my progenitor

If I feel lazy and don't want to walk around for a sightseeing my camera drags me out. She is teaching me how to appreciate the details and the big scheme of things and she's giving me a reason to walk for miles, unaware of the complains of my aching feet.
She's turning what was a boring activity into a pleasure and an interesting and instructive thing to do. Can't wait to be back to walk trastevere in a wet afternoon, with the puddles reflecting the old buildings and the weird people you see around. No matter if my photos come out good or not, I have a good excuse to dive into such a beautiful city. I mean CITY!