Exploring the Vineyards and Farms of the Italian Alps
“When I shoot during a vacation, I generally have one chance to get the shot and I have to hope it works out,” says food and travel photographer Sandy Noto. "I've learned that my travel companions do not appreciate pulling over 50 times on the side of the road. But it has taught me how to be faster on my feet. I am a better photographer for it.”
Noto's work, which is largely food and destination shots that are bright, easy, and joyful, sends her on the road several times a year. But this fall, between assignments in Colombia and Taiwan, she squeezed in a personal trip with her husband and in-laws to the Dolomites, in the Italian Alps at the beginning of the autumn harvest season. Using the family-run Schgaguler as their base (“We'd read about its design and approach and practically built the trip around it,” she says), the family spent four days exploring the vineyards and farms—many of which swing open their doors and transform into makeshift local restaurants for neighbors and travelers during that time every year.
On a hike to the hotel's working farm, the group passed through villages and dense woodlands, where they found a strong sense of place and community. This, combined with the region's approach to simple, honest cooking, made it one of the most memorable vacations in recent years. “I often come back from trips thinking they were interesting. But this was the first one where we all agreed we would want to come right back, she says.”
The series below is an excerpt from that trip.
Sandy Noto“For me, the entire Dolomites region could be distilled down to these flower pots. Every single building had them and I found it to be the most charming thing in the world. In my experience, it is hard to agree with your neighbors on a lot of things, and I liked imagining how the community here all come together over their love for these flowers.”
Sandy Noto“At the start of our hike, we emerged from the dark, heavily dense woods to see this pretty, petite chapel. When you don't know how long you'll be walking through a forest, suddenly getting out of it feels so unexpected. I love the composition of this shot. The church is on its own, but is framed by the beautiful landscape. Normally when I shoot in towns with chapels like this, they are flanked by other buildings, which can detract from its visual appeal. The natural narrative [here] meant I did not have to compromise on context or composition.”
Sandy Noto“Whenever I travel, there becomes some object that I absolutely obsess over. On this trip, it was the grapes, which people grab by the handful as a snack, even though I am sure they're being grown for wine. I must have shot about 60 or so images, just of the bunches on the vines. This one stands out to me because of the definition of the fruit and the leaves. Plus the lighting is right; often the shadow of the leaves made the grapes themselves too dark.”
Sandy Noto“Right before we reached the farm this came into view. The setting is beautiful and typical of this entire region—Alpine architecture with the hills and the vineyards all in a single frame. I rarely photograph sentimental moments like get-togethers. I understand the emotional connection to those moments, but the images rarely look good. They are often too dark. The composition is off. Inevitably someone looks goofy. Instead, I like to prioritize photos of things with real aesthetic power, with no distraction to take anything away from the scene. This shot to me represented everything I fell in love with about the area: the rugged and civilized beauty.”
Sandy Noto“The Dolomites were formerly part of Austria, and you really don't feel like you are in Italy—at least not the stereotypical idea of what Italy is. Yet with all this back and forth over language, borders, and culture, it can be easy to overlook the fact that there are families who have lived here for centuries, toiling the land and working in winemaking or harvesting for just as long. Their livelihoods and lifestyles have seemingly never been disrupted despite so many geopolitical changes. That is what I liked about this image. To me, capturing a farmhand performing something as ordinary as collecting fruit speaks to that. He is just there, dwarfed by the surroundings that have defined his lifestyle, and the lives of those before him.”
Sandy Noto“I took this quickly. We were being shown through the farmhouse and I worried that if I did not take the image immediately than I would not have an opportunity to shoot the room empty and undisturbed again, as I assumed we would be eating in there. The space felt so much like a home that was being transformed into a makeshift restaurant for our group. What I love most is the fall off of the window light. The day was cloudy, and the light was very diffused. There were no hard shadows, which can come with sharp sunlight.”
Sandy Noto“With my food photography I try to find a balance between styling and natural settings. I don't like it to be too manipulated; when I shoot at a restaurant I always tell the chef to plate the dishes exactly as they would if serving them to a table. Don't add extra food. Don't make it look ‘prettier.’ This was exactly how the speck and breads were laid out. And those tomatoes! We watched the innkeepers pluck them off the plant and bring them right to the table. They were end of the summer tomatoes, and they tasted delightful. The speck was made from pigs who had been raised right on that farm and the wine was young. We polished off a couple bottles, and then out came the schnapps. Neighbors came over and joined us. We didn't speak any German or Italian and they didn't really speak English, but nothing brings down a language barrier like booze.”
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