Phtos by lilypenelope

Photo by lilypenelope

Photos by lilypenelope

Sometimes reality and dreams cross path. On that particular path I found myself driving couple of days ago! Curiosity told me to keep going on a road I've never experienced further than my own home at the lake so, since I had nothing much to do I took the car and kept going. It was a rainy day and spring apparently was playing hide and seek! Would I find it on top of the mountain? Maybe that's what drove me!! While I kept going up I found interesting things to shoot. Strange trees, beautiful flowers, rain drops on grass (post below) and, on top of everything my tripp was surrounded with the typical smell of nature touched by the rain. I kept going higher (on the mountain!). Til I met Fog! To be said: I love reading mystery novels. Especially scandinavian ones (Mankell, Nesbo, Indridason, Nesser...). For some reasons, the landscape, all of a sudden, appeared to be those narrated in those fantastic books. With one little uncomfortable detail: "what if the killer jumps out of the woods and stabbs me to death?". Yep, sometimes I wonder if I maybe dont read too much of those books!! A strange feeling started to appear: fear. No houses near by. Only those of German tourist who come in the summer. But hey I said to myself. This Fog is amazing. The landscape is surreal. Fear can be managed! Then, details of life/fiction started to appear. An abandoned truck with a swiss licence plate (and I was in Italy). My mind started to flip: "Oh geeeee. What is this doing here?" "Where is the owner?" Al this thoughs were spinning in my head and, I decided never to live the car but shoot my pics from inside!!!
Ultimately I got til the end of the road. In a huge land covered by fog. Only a sign was visible. The name of the area and its height. "Acqua Minerale 590 m" ("Mineral Water 590m". That's when My already freaked out brain started to lose it! What if this one was the perfect place for a murder? What if this was a great place for those authors to set their stories in? Then worse of all.... "Oh geeeeee....what if this would be the perfect place for a real murder??" Seriosly I needed to come back to reality! While I turned my car a strange last (messed up) thought crossed my mind: "What if the (fictional) murderer just jumps out from the Fog and.... "Swiss architect found dead on top of a mountain in the region af the Lake Maggiore. Her body was found in "Mineral Water"". Yep...that would make the headline!! But would people ask "Who was she?" Or "Was the water sparkling?".
Photo by lilypenelope

Photo by lilypenelope

Photo by lilypenelope

Photo by lilypenelope

It doesn't happen that often that I look at my city from above. Like the "small town Icarus" I went up the hill, went inside the "3rd castle" patio and then I started to look towards the dark horizon. Down not that far there is the lake. Down, meters below, there are 2 other castles. Yet, what strucked me was the beauty of my city from above. Detached from the everyday. Detached from the street level. Detached from those routines that, day after day, create my urban experience-(s). Now, on top of the hill, all I see is a perfectly calm image. Lights softly guide you through the mysterious darkness of the night. As I drove back down a song was playing at the radio. It's words started to fly through the open window... "These streets will make you feel brand new Big lights will inspire you"...
I'm not sure how much my town still inspires me but, many stories have already being written, nothing new appearing on the blank pages of my urban everyday journey but, looking at it from a different perspective yes...those lights inspired me. And made me feel brand new!
Photo by lilypenelope - Bellinzona from above.

Photos by lilypenelope

Maybe it's because spring is not that far away. But I keep buying flowers lately. And I keep shooting pics of them. New angles appear, new forms emerge. Hidden colors revealed! Photo by lilypenelope

Photo by lilypenelope

Brissago (Switzerland) circa 1930. My grandfather standing in front of his bar/restaurant. Very interesting the fact that all the signs are written in french and german instead of italian, the official language of our state. The reason was because of the tourists that crowded the region...before the war.
The image was used as a postcard my grandparents were supposed to send and, who knows why, never did! Funny is their signature... "Blanche et Charly"...they made it french...instead of their original names "Bianca e Carlo".

The Beauty of Nature on a winter day. Photos by lilypenelope

My dog under the curtains! What a spectacle!! Photo by lilypenelope

The third castle of my city. The one that is situated above the other two. Alone here I stand, at the beginning of the street that will take me towards this beautiful medieval construction. No one around. Just me, a light and a road towards the past. Photo by lilypenelope

Capturing details in all the flowers I received at my birthday! Nice colors...til they last! Photo by lilypenelope

A photo that's totally messed up! Completely out of focus. Yet it is very clear. Defined colors, perceptile form[s]. A very elegant and precise flower in reality. A strange, yet fascinating natural detail framed by the eye of a moving camera. Sometimes messing up ain't such a bad thing!! Photo by lilypenelope

Outside from a window all I can see are other windows. Openings. Frames to/for the outside world. Double voyeurism? Hidden behind a tree we look. We dream. Our own thoughts. Our own feelings are framed. Into the window of the unconscious. Photo by lilypenelope

Everyday a little more. The flower keeps growing. Rising from the vase into a new state. Into a new form. Photos by lilypenelope

A planned city. Streets, boardwalks, lines, crossroads, buildings and numbers. I wasn't sure where the original old city centre was so, I started walking on "Main Street". A Post Office. A Newstand. A Starbucks. A restaurant owned by an italian family from the neighborhood. A park where young and old people were spending their beautiful saturday afternoon. Yet something was missing. Where were all the stores I remembered being there once? Probably moved to the suburbs. New structures have appeared. And many other left to their own destiny. New and decay. Gentrification and sprawl. Traffic. Yet I found human presence. Man made structures. Geometry and well thought out plans. Where am I going? Where is urbanism going? Photos by lilypenelope