Saturday, August 6, 2016

broken but beautiful


on the outskirts of town lies an old masseria in dire need of lots of love. everything about that afternoon photographing it was magical. imagining it in it's heyday, kept up and functioning, roaming the spacious courtyard and rooms within was so impressive. left a mark.

just imagine this having been your view from the balcony of your bedroom...an olive grove stretching out before you. that is heaven.


and this. the image you see as you stare up from your bed...

not surprisingly, some of the ceiling artwork stencils seemed to be in pretty decent shape considering the rest of the grounds. time and the elements couldn't fade this piece too much.


i love these next two images very much. the rich color of the crumbling terracotta ceiling and the rusted bars of the window peeking into the overgrown courtyard.


and this...who doesn't want a fruit tree outside their window? lemon, orange, peaches, apricots...i'd take any and all to be within arm's reach. all these years of not being kept up and still this tree blossoms and produces. the perfect climate calls for many fruit trees outside your window in my opinion.


i'd like to think that this shutter was meant to look like a profile and not that it's missing the bottom piece of wood. and why is there a nearly perfect circle towards the top half of the shutter? so on cold days a little light could still get in or was it a peep hole for a very tall inhabitant? and again, that courtyard. courtyards such as this one once was need to come back into existence. they are beautiful, they are convenient and just the word courtyard alone is romantic.



my need to photograph each detail...can you tell i like old shutters?


most italian homes, whether inside or out, save a special place for a statue. the blessed mary, jesus or a saint is most likely to attend a spot such as this one to watch over the family. some are adorned with candles or a simple light fixture to be illuminated always. i liked that this one was outside. showed trust in people, at the time, not to vandalize or steal their saint.


the house from the outside. yes, it had not one, but two towers. the better to feel like a princess of your own not-so-little castle.

Masseria San Gervasio, Mesagne, Puglia

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