Where Marble Holds the Sky

The marble here never simply ends. It is taken away, block by block, leaving behind a vertical absence that nothing closes again. Rain comes uninvited and fills that absence to the brim. The water offers no floor to the eye — beneath it lies only white, cut, inverted.

To photograph a body on that water is not to photograph a lake. It is to photograph a void that has learned to hold still. The surface offers no shore for the eye to rest on — it returns only the cut white of the walls, upturned and bottomless. The exposure here does not seek transparency, as it would on true water — it seeks how convincingly that surface can lie, giving back stone where no stone remains.

I have chosen this place for you because of a memory that stays with me still, precisely for its emotional weight. I once wanted to photograph here — one model, one leaden sky — to capture the particular light that an overcast heaven could lend this place of eternal white and extreme blue, of deep, saturated water-blue. From the very first hour, the weather made no promises. Not the gentle rain one expects in the mountains, but a true storm, the kind that arrives without warning and changes what a day means. The vertical marble walls, the same walls that had held the stone still for centuries, stopped being walls that day and became waterfalls — water descending where before there had only been the cut, only still white. I photographed beneath that water, fragile, and I have never forgotten how alive the quarry was that day, more alive than on any day of sun.

Six photographers, three models: I am bringing you to a place that has always drawn me back, and for one full day we will try, together, this same possibility — that marble might stop, for a moment, being marble; that stone might move again; and that water might return to being the source of life.

Welcome to Cava Valsora

Meet the Model is an occasion for shared photography, friendship and experimentation. It is neither a workshop nor a course, and our days will not follow a programme of lessons. Each photographer has room to bring a personal direction to the work.

I will be present throughout. If you would like to discuss how to hold detail in the marble, shape the light on a face or use a particular piece of equipment, I will be very happy to help. A short technical explanation or a practical experiment on set is offered entirely free of charge.

We reserve the spaces needed for our photographic production. Cava Valsora is our working location, not a place to stay overnight. Should you wish to stay longer to enjoy the extraordinary landscape of the Apuan Alps, simply let us know if you need accommodation — we would be delighted to offer our expertise, our knowledge of the area, and to suggest solutions we have experienced ourselves.

We will also share the pleasure of the local food and time away from the cameras. A meal gives the eyes a rest and the conversation another direction; often the next image begins somewhere in that interval. Food and beverages — soft drinks and water — are included in the participation fee.

Cava Valsora lies near Passo del Vestito, in the Apuan Alps above Massa. High walls of striated marble reveal the material of the mountain and the traces of extraction. Within the quarry, a small biological lake supports a fragile habitat, including the Apuan alpine newt.

The photographic interest is in the meeting of these different presences: cut stone, open sky, living surroundings and the human figure. Pale surfaces return light; grooves and edges divide it. Changing our position can turn a monumental wall into a nearly abstract field.

The lake belongs to the life of the place and will be treated as such, with respect. Our images can draw their strength from observation: the relationship between a body and a wall, the passage of a shadow, the small gesture that allows a vast space to become personal.

Cava Valsora rises in the Apuan Alps, the white-veined range that watches over Tuscany's western coast, where Italy leans toward the sea. The marble that built palaces and cathedrals across Europe still comes from these mountains today. Pisa, with its international airport, lies some two hours away by road — close enough for an easy arrival, far enough to feel you have left the coast behind for something older. All around, the region blooms with bed and breakfasts, hotels, thermal spas and restaurants — so should you wish to extend your stay and discover the wonders of this part of Tuscany, you are more than welcome.

We arrive in the soft hours of a late-summer morning, between nine and half past — the marble still cool, the light not yet at its height. Work begins at half past nine and carries us through the morning, until the August heat, between half past one and half past two, calls for shade and an unhurried lunch together. By half past two the light has softened again, and we return to work, following the gold of the afternoon as it moves across the stone until half past five. The last half hour is ours alone, cameras set down — a toast, a few last stories, and the easy promise of a next time.

Over many years of working as a photographer, and of running both a photographic studio and an equipment-hire service, I came to understand what photographers truly hope to find when they arrive on a set. Not simply more equipment, but the freedom to make an image without being stopped by the absence of the right tool.

This is what London Photographic Workshop places at your disposal: a rare, complete photographic production, brought together in one place and made available to you for the duration of the event. It is the kind of equipment most photographers encounter only in fragments, over many years, and which would cost a considerable sum to hire for a one-day production.

You will be able to work with HASSELBLAD X2D II cameras and a selection of HASSELBLAD lenses; SUNBOUNCE natural-light systems, including reflectors, screens, Sun-Swatter and Sun-Cage; PROFOTO, BRONCOLOR and BOWENS studio flash; professional battery-powered PROFOTO flash, with a complete selection of modifiers; LEE Filters and professional matte boxes; MANFROTTO photographic tripods; and MATTHEWS grip equipment.

This is not equipment assembled for display. It is a working set of serious tools: the cameras, light, modifiers and support systems that allow an idea to become a photograph when the moment arrives.

Respect is part of the photographic language, not an administrative footnote. All models and participants must be eighteen or older. The models determine their individual nudity and posing boundaries. Consent is specific, ongoing and may be withdrawn at any time. No participant may touch a model without explicit permission. No phones, spectators or behind-the-scenes recording on closed sets.

Images may not be published, exhibited, sold or submitted to competitions outside the agreed model-release terms. No generative-AI training or synthetic alteration of a model’s body or identity. A private changing and resting area must always be available. Models receive proper breaks, meals, accommodation and transport support.

Alcohol is served only after photography has finished for the day. Before each session, the artistic director holds a short consent check-in covering wardrobe, nudity level, location, participating photographers and intended images.