Tuscany, Italy - 2026

Italy is La Dolce Vita. I think this vignette celebrates that emphatically. It is a far better photograph than I expected ​it to be when it was first conceived and the plaudits for that go to the community of San Quirico d’Orcia rather than my camerawork.

In a tableau it is of basic importance to manage positioning as well as possible and avoid tension points, but that magic comes when those in the frame act instinctively and forget that a cameraman is there. If they can maintain the illusion of a self-contained world, there is every possibility that something special happens. On this occasion the fourth wall did its job and the result is rather special.

There is a famous scene in Ridley Scott’s iconic film - Gladiator - where Oliver Reed’s Proximo tells Russell Crowe’s Maximus that to win his freedom he must “win the crowd”. I am always mindful of that prompt, perhaps no more so than when filming in Val d’Orcia - a key location in the movie.

There was no freedom at stake for me that evening in San Quirico, but for this photograph to really work, we needed to invest emotionally in the community and win the crowd. Historical precedent at DYP would lend weight to the idea that a bar is always a good place to start such a rapprochement.

Cafe society has been part of the tapestry of Italy for generations but probably accelerated in the 1950s. With that in mind, the concept was to build a Mille Miglia classic car race from the 1905s into the narrative. Of course we introduced a degree of parody in our conceptual iteration; our default position is to be playful not earnest.

Frida Aasen has great sexual allure as the driver of the 1955 Ferrari 121LM that was driven by Piero Taruffi at Mille Miglia in its first year. It seems I was not the only one to win the crowd. She anchors the picture with authority and presence.