‘The Italian Experience’ – An Exhibition Of Photographs Inspired By A Poem

Rita Frost and Francis Caro of Newtown will be exhibiting their latest poetic photographs of Italy at the Woodbury Public Library, 269 Main Street South/Route 6 in Woodbury, during the month of April. A gala opening, with refreshments, will be on Sunday, April 6, from 2 to 4:30 pm. The public is invited.

The husband and wife team specialize in taking images of Italian villages, antique doors, windows, food and architecture. The Newtown couple often goes off the beaten track to take shots that will intrigue them.

The new exhibition features photographs of the regions of Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Abruzzo and Rome taken on a recent trip covering over 700 miles of the Italian countryside.

Upon their return Frost, also a poet and painter, was obsessed by the images they had seen, often staying awake visualizing and recalling all the beauty they had captured. When she realized this temporary insomnia was her body’s way of telling her she wanted to stay longer in Italy, she proceeded to write a two-page poem about the recent travel experiences.

She wrote, in small part: “It’s over. Driving through sumptuous countryside sprinkled with green cypress and ripe olive trees delighting our vision on this photographic mission each valley and village a mystery inside.

“We clicked away, taking advantage of light so right, dramatic shadows intriguing, wanting it all…”

The photographs correspond with and enhance the images created by Ms Frost’s words.

 “Almost everything in the poem will be hanging on the walls of the library,” she says.

The couple’s vivid images are known for making the viewer feel that they are with them. Their photographs have won 55 first prizes, including recent honors from Candlewood Camera Club in Danbury and from various shows where they have exhibited.

While no strangers to the country, Frost lived and studied in Florence during the late 1960s studying painting at Accademia di Belle.

“This [recent] trip was unique,” however, she said. While seeing several new regions, the couple experienced several fateful occurrences. First, staying on a farm in the small village of Castelfranco, near Parma,  Ms Frost bumped into a friend she had not seen for 35 years.

Another occurred after buying a bottle of wine. They couple took advantage of an unplanned opportunity to go to a Tuscan vineyard where they were able to shoot grapes being picked. There they were captivated  for hours by hundreds of grapes in multitudes of shapes, sizes and colors, all beckoning to be photographed.

Woodbury Public Library is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, Tuesday and Thursday from 10 am to 9 pm, and Sunday from 1 to 5 pm. The photographers can be reached at 426-8787; the library, at 203-263-3502.