Tuscany, Italy - 2026

This location is not, of course, the famous Californian golf course that bears the title's name, but a lone cypress tree set in the geometric harmony of the Tuscan countryside just south of Siena.

In my view three things elevate this photograph: the first is the cypress tree itself. We scouted long and hard to find an isolated one that could hold sovereignty over all that lay around it. Many locations in Val d’Orcia are over photographed - but not this one ​- it’s private land and we filmed in partnership with the farmer. It’s as good a tree as we have ever had in a picture.

The second is that the driver, Kelsey Merritt, very much owns the shot despite being less than 0.5% of the entire image. That is quite an achievement when the competition for attention is either the bucolic charm of this part of Italy or the 1955 Ferrari 121LM that in its first year recorded the highest speed ever in Mille Miglia when driven by Piero Taruffi. On the route from Rome to Brescia, he averaged 189kph.

Kelsey’s hair is perfectly styled for this composition and I thank our good friend, Larry King of London, for doing such a great job at 4 am. I am reminded again that it’s always the small things that turn a decent photograph into a very special one. She not only looks fantastic but plausibly local.

The third dynamic is the early morning mist which cloaks the valleys in the background. This often happens in May in the Tuscan countryside, but it is far from a given. It’s something that we can wish for, but we can’t really plan for, because the lead time in production is longer than reliable mist forecasts tend to be. But we can narrow the odds in our favour by shooting over a four-day stretch and always being ready at 5 am with all props in place. This was the one morning when the ducks were in line.

There is no lofty ambition in this narrative - I simply wanted to toast the indelible outline of the Tuscan countryside and celebrate its historical marriage with Ferrari which was cemented by the Mille Miglia car race. I marvel at the rich beauty of the world we live in and that is something I find hard not to celebrate in my work.

The simplicity of community life in the village and the cafe society dating to the 50s informed and directed me and that was the inspiration for this photograph. The Mille Miglia was a coveted spectator event that passed through many rural communities, not an elite car race happening on a soulless circular racetrack. The race came to the villagers, as opposed to villagers going to the race. The tragedy of 1957, when 10 spectators died, makes that point.

The photograph features the 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza 0530 - one of the most celebrated Ferraris from that era and an attraction at the Monza Museum for over 10 years. Fully restored now it again races the Mille Miglia.

We had many people to place in this tableau, but the key participant was the model, Frida Aasen. I knew that in the cinematic composition she would be off-centre and not necessarily dominant, yet she had to own the frame and be where the eye went. It’s not an easy trick, but she has such a strong look and the fading sun allowed me to highlight her.