I teach large format photography (8×10) and contact printing every May to my AMAZING students in Tuscany.

It is always a fantastic experience for the students coming from every part of the world to my country, but also for me to be in touch with them for fifteen days at the Villa Rospigliosi in Pistoia and in Florence.

In the first six years we used to go to Lamole, close to Greve in Chianti. I brought the students to an old abandoned factory where they could experiment the 8×10 large format cameras and the zone system.

The following shot was taken in May 2010. I saw this abandoned broom in this abandoned factory and it reminded me the image W.H.F. Talbot took in 1844 called “The open door.” The Tri-x 320 E.I. 200 was processed in Kodak HC-110, scanned and printed on Ilford matt fine art paper.