The wood carver

In a small and anonymous town in Italy where I and three other photographers stopped for a coffee we found a curious little shop on the main road. It was small but stuffed with beautiful wood carvings.

The wood carver was welcoming and luckily spoke some English as our Italian had little in it that would have got us far in wood carving terms. He told us much that I won't repeat here but it included his preference to work with tools made in Sheffield where it appears his brother made (or maybe it was had made) steel and the array behind him was evidence of this attachment. He was garrulous and, while I do not want to use any stereotypes, as expressive with his hands and head movements as any Italian I have met.

As our visit drew to a close and we bought our examples and gifts to take home I asked if I may photograph him. He was happy with that and continued to talk while I snapped away for a couple of minutes. The light was great arriving as it did from the sunny street outside his workshop window lighting both him and the tools in the background. He didn't slow down and his movement, for me, adds to the portrait and my memory of him. My one regret is that I never asked his name. 

When we returned to our lodgings the owner knew the workshop. On my return to the UK I had a print made and sent it, via her, to him. Whether he ever received it or liked it I don't know...but if you ever go into a small town in Italy and see this photo on the wall of the local woodcarver you'll know where it came from :-)