day 1 .... olive tree project

just brilliant !!!!

5.30am wake up .... (not on purpose) one mosquito decided to target my face

7.00am straight to Danilos bar for 2 cappucini one after the other and an insane brioche that had not only liquid melted hot chocolate inside but also custard .... hmmm

The town square has an old olive right in the piazza... I notice a little face looking out 

7.30am find supermarket for emergency supplies and start talking to the nice ladies inside

The ladies, Gabriella and Clara decide theyre going to show me their olive groves and Alberi Secolari  when they are not working ... and mention the location of local trees

must find topographical maps to mark out where they are 

9.00am off to Lecce ...an utterly beautiful town full of artworks everywhere ..the town seems dedicated to art and full full full of huge crowds of teenagers everywhere getting ready to start university

10.30am meet the Director of the Academia delle Belle Arte Lecce and the head of the photography department ... they have decided to help me and give me darkroom access  and all assistance to complete the project ...on the one condition that I find a 500W incandescent lamp for the professional enlarger they have there ... 

Academia delle Belle Arte Lecce

11.30am visit the exhibition space at the Academia ...we are having the show in November there 

its fantastic ...an old convent converted into a University of Art

our show space is a long galleria of vaulted ceilings and magical arched windows

wandering  around in Lecce looking at random pencil sketches on street walls and feeling the ancient town which is full of energy and life ... to be a teenager here must be absolutely brilliant! I have never seen so many bands of kids hanging out and roaming , outside of an open air concert in my life ....

meeting more and more people and trying to source materials and ..."the magic lamp"

lunch in the piazza ...which has an ancient arena in the centre ... cant believe ...no one takes any notice of it ... tourist season is well over ...and now it is just locals

3pm off to visit a property (terreno) of Paolas cousin... as we drive by the dry stone walls i spot an amazing Olive tree leaning out over the top and want to jump immediately out of the car to photograph it ...Leo says "this is my Olive grove ... you can come here whenever you want and photograph anything as you want "

I spend the next 2 hours roaming and photographing trees and working out "how" my photographs are going to be made when my old school equipment arrives

5.30pm meet with the head of the Commune who is going to supply me with  all the topographical maps I can ever need.... his wife gives me 3 bottles of diverse local wines for us all to try out at the residency !!! How good is my day ?

6.30pm meet a photographer in another town and check out darkroom potential there

7.00pm go and talk to ladies in another supermarket 

7.30pm fruit and vegetables shop "non solo frutta" ... the owner a little old man gives me a cooking lesson for what to do to Betole .... and tells me the Nonna I talked to on the day I arrived is one of the best cooks in town !!!

8pm all the artists in residence make a big combined banquet meal and we drink a vino rose together ...

these guys are all really really good cooks .... Ive got to find some things to cook and not let the side down ....

10.30pm fall into bed with sheer happy exhaustion