THE ANCIENT GUARDIAN
San Feliciano – Trasimeno Lake (Umbria – Italy)
L’Antico Guardiano – Van Dyke on 45g Washi paper
It’s really curious to realize how strange it is the way you become affectionate with a landscape or a detail of it.
Since the first walk in San Feliciano, on the shores of Lake Trasimeno, I noticed a couple of dry trees, probably always present in the panorama of this beautiful place.
One of them, in particular, struck me for its shape. Seen from a certain angle, in fact, it recalls a creature with outstretched arms that looks at the panorama, almost as if it wanted to embrace the whole lake.
It impressed me so much that I went back several times to photograph it, trying to convey that joyful yet majestic pose.
A windstorm
No more than a few weeks ago, probably one of the last windstorms to hit the area for some time, broke this majestic natural sculpture from its base.
The municipality could only finish the work and, as a precaution, cut down the other tree, probably of the same age and just as dry.
To the present day, the tree is still there. It is stretched out and without any more arms that were irreparably damaged in the fall.
It is used by children and passers-by as a bench on which to rest a little after a long walk, perhaps admiring the landscape of the lake or a spectacular sunset.
The same view that, for who knows how long, that knotty trunk has embraced, day and night.
This photograph, the one that most represents this tree, I printed it in a limited series on Japanese paper in Van Dyke and it will be soon available together with others related to the territory of Lake Trasimeno.
L’albero, la sera stessa della tempesta di vento
