Camera Etrusca Blog

Changing of the guard at Camera Etrusca. What were you doing back in 1990? It was quite a lively year: the USSR collapsed, Nelson Mandela was freed, the Hubble space telescope was launched, Kuwait was invaded then liberated, while a man in London was liberated too…..of his briefcase at knifepoint - and of bonds worth £292 million, Sinéad […]

Spas and Thermal Springs in Tuscia Hot water cascade in Bagni San Filippo in Tuscany Tuscia is volcanic territory and abounds in hot springs. We are surrounded by extinct volcanoes from under which flow thermal streams, hot water cascades and bubbling springs. Some are fairly pricey sophisticated resorts with fancy hotels, massage facilities, restaurants etc; […]

Orvieto Olive Oil. The olive  hasn’t much to do with photography other than that olive groves end up being in a lot of landscapes. However, olive oil is one of the good things of Italy that most people appreciate while here. The olive is a truly remarkable fruit and you could happily survive on it […]

The Barabbata Festival is held every year on 14 May on the shores of Lake Bolsena in the fishing village of Marta near Viterbo. The festival is a catholicised re-enaction of pagan rites of spring and consists of parading a portrait of the Virgin through the town and up to the church at the top of […]

Italy is undergoing the coldest, snowiest winter since 1985. I have been out and about in and around Orvieto doing landscapes and snapping my eight year old daughter playing in the snow with her pals. While I was photographing the sunset from the roof of the Land Rover she was out  playing with her friend […]

The Etruscan Sacred Ways are only found around three southern Tuscan towns: Pitigliano, Sovana and Sorano. Some are very deep, up to an astonishing 20m, hewn out of solid rock by the Etruscans about 2500 years ago, and some paths are very long indeed; all of them are winding and twisting like the above. Why […]

Vulci is one of the most picturesque spots in Italy. It boasts Etrusco-Roman ruins, a sinister mediaeval castle, an ancient high bridge, a deep canyon under stalactite cliffs, a rushing waterfall and a deep lake. Vulci was a rich and important Etruscan city founded about 800 BC. It was continuously inhabited for about a thousand […]

Lake Bolsena is one of the magnificent sights of Italy. It has been considered a lake of great spiritual importance and mystery for thousands of years. It was the sacred lake of the Etruscans and centre of their pagan cult from 900BC till suppression by the Catholic church, it still has a powerful  effect on […]

Civita di Bagnoregio is a really ancient place but sadly is now in a state of terminal decay. The tufa cliffs on which it is built are crumbling into the valley below taking houses with them. Until comparatively recently the road signs pointed to Civita, la citta che muore – the dying city. They were […]

A photography workshop in Italy could not  be based in a more appealing place than Ovieto, in Umbria, but on the borders of both Tuscany and Latium. Orvieto is an ancient city going back to pre-Roman Etruscan times, on the top of a volcanic rock surrounded by hills covered with vines and olives, and in […]