Under Old Stars: Wanderings in Italian Hill Towns - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3868287051 ISBN 13: 9783868287059

Publisher: Kehrer Verlag, 2016

Synopsis

Through black and white images and prose sketches, this book takes readers on a journey to discover a world largely lost today, among people deeply at home with their old ways, in remote hill towns in south-central Italy. Mauro Marinelli's stark, yet lyrical, photographs reveal the beauty and wonder in small things—a foot on the stair, sunlight on a wall, the flower pot atop a confessional. Rob Lloyd's sensual and meditative prose sketches include historical reveries, street scenes, snippets of overheard conversations, and private moments, real and imagined.

About this title

About the Author:

Mauro Marinelli is an artist, photographer, contractor, great cook, farmer, one-time novitiate, and former photojournalist. Born and raised in White Plains, New York, to Italian immigrant parents, he earned a BFA in Photography and English from Manhattanville College. His work is inspired by the work of his teachers, Ralph Gibson, Eva Rubenstein, and Sean Kernan. He is the author of two books: The Burden of Wings (Kehrer) and Old Timers: The Italians (St. Martin’s), photographs of the last original Italian immigrants.

Rob Lloyd was born in New York City and grew up in the Finger Lakes district of upstate New York. He graduated from the Creative Writing Program at The University of New Hampshire. Rob Lloyd spent most of his career in Los Angeles writing and producing TV shows for network and syndication. Currently, he lives in Tennessee where he is an English professor.

Review:

"A beautiful and evocative book with some of the most exquisite prints I've ever seen."

-Alan Arkin, Actor

"One could say Italy is as much a feeling as it is a place and Mauro Marinelli's photographs are full of that feeling. A major work on an ancient culture . . . seen through the eyes of today. Bravo!"

-Ralph Gibson, Photographer

Under Old Stars: Wandering in Italian Hill Towns allows readers to wander too, to journey with our eyes like insiders through Italian hill towns, to peer into hidden corners and shy faces through the artful photos of Mauro Marinelli and the compelling prose and poetry of Rob Lloyd. The photographs are tender, fierce, gorgeous and wry. These crisp black-and-whites remind us of the magic of light and shadow, they let us see more clearly and imaginatively through the eyes of a master photographer. Pair these with the artful narrative entries of Rob Lloyd and readers feel that we too are strolling through hidden country towns, seeing details and vistas with extraordinary lenses. Add to this Lloyd's rhythmically perfect, startling poems and you have bonus beauty-"gravy," as Raymond Carver might have said. This is a perfect gift book, but you won't want to give it away.

-Marilyn Kallet, Author

"Under Old Stars takes us on a journey to a place that is clearly Italy, but it might also be Ireland, France, Croatia, Greece, China--wherever our forebears came from. Words and photographs, both of them beautiful and austere, beckon us through innumerable doors into this village beyond time, and the world that our immigrant ancestors left comes to life before our eyes. It's a work that is powerful and gentle, with meaning for us all."

-Sean Kernan, Photographer

About this edition

• Publisher: Kehrer Verlag
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 3868287051
• ISBN 13: 9783868287059
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160