It doesn't happen every time to spend a day photographing inside a castle, especially in a 15th century castle. Normally I wander through the streets of some small town in search of a curiosity, an unprecedented scene, a curious moment, or even just a small slice of everyday life, enhanced by a surprising play of light.
Last week, I had the pleasure of spending a whole day in the province of Pavia, at the Castello Beccaria di Montebello della Battaglia. The castle was built in the 12th century.The brick building, has a rectangular plan, is equipped with buttresses and a high tower at the end. Traces of another tower can be identified, the structure has been modified over time, assuming, especially after the seventeenth-century restorations, the characteristics of a large house.
I’m not really used to take photos of people posing. I do take photos of people, but they are minding their own business, living their life, they are not posing for me and neither expecting me to give them indication on what to do, where to look, how to pose. I’ve tried, but I’m simply not good enough to give direction to models. I know the photo is made up, and so my interest towards that photo fades away.
My love and interest for Helmut Newtown start and ends in my library. The king of kink, the most iconic fashion photographer who ever lived, the man who entertained me with his beautiful photos for years, even with all his magical inspiring area, never succeeded to spark in me the desire to really try to pose a model. I simply don’t have this gift. I’m not good at it. He was, and I also see many other photographer around me with this ability, which I don’t possess. I’m not feeling at ease in posing people, even when I’m trying to enjoy some portrait photography. I was not alone, in the castle, there were other photographers, photographers who, differently from me, took a lot of photos and gave a lot of indications to the models. I waited for the silences, the moment of pauses, the thin line between “the end of the photoshoot” and “its time to pack things up and then go home”. I’m not even sure the models noticed that I was there, but I had fun, that’s for sure. I’ve spent an entire day in the castle, waiting for the right moment, shooting only when I felt that the model was not thinking about being shot, or between the different poses, or even when the models were getting bored of waiting for my directions. In those moments, when they were not fully aware that I was about to shoot, I found my small window of opportunity to pull out a picture I could like. My biggest thanks to the models for their patience.
Anyway, if you are looking for an awesome location inside an awesome castle to take photos, get in touch with the people at the Castello Beccaria di Montebello della Battaglia (Pv). They are awesome and they really love what they do and care about renewing the castle. They are renting it to photographers or to anyone who need a very nice place for business. Do that, and you will help them to renew the castle and bring it back to it’s original splendor.
Contact Info:
Beccaria Castle. Phone: +39 339/1868927