A Photographic Taste Of Italy

In conjunction with a month-long celebration of Italy at Cyrenius H. Booth Library, the Newtown couple Rita Frost and Francis Caro have been invited to exhibit their award winning photographs of Italy. The exhibit, “A Taste of Italy,” will feature photographs of the Italian countryside, architecture and food.

The public is invited to a gala opening on Sunday, April 4, from 1:30 to 4 pm, in the library’s Olga Knoepke Meeting Room. The exhibition will remain on view until April 22.

Most of the photographs have won first prizes in various competitions. The couple has 62 first prizes to their credit, and are members of Candlewood Camera Club in Danbury.

Miss Frost studied painting at the prestigious Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, and Mr Caro is a former gallery owner in Manhattan and an expert in the field of Oriental and Far Eastern art.

Miss Frost and Mr Caro exhibit throughout the New England area as well as abroad. They recently returned from a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where they showed at AMIC, a Jewish center bombed by terrorist ten years ago. The couple was so moved by the center’s good works for the community they donated ten of their award winning photographs of Israel to the center’s permanent collection. While in Buenos Aires, they took over 1,000 photographs, which they are also in the process of preparing for future exhibits.

The couple has lived in Newtown, with their Abyssinian cat, Bella, for six years and before that 12 years in Ridgefield.

“We love being home, however, Italy is like a second home to us. I lived in Florence many years ago,” says Miss Frost, “and have many friends there who are like family.

“We stay with friends in Siena and make it our base,” she continued. “Another friend has a house in Abruzzo, which we recently discovered on this trip. We traveled over 700 miles, including the regions of Tuscany, Emilia Romagna and Rome.”

Miss Frost, who is also a painter and a poet, was inspired by the journey and wrote a two-page poem that kept her awake for two weeks while writing it.

An excerpt from the poem reads: “…Sights of pasta were found in every color and shape, as well as salads of garden treasures and mouth watering roasts, spiced with fresh herb and ice cream — mounds of it with textures, topped with fruits and chocolate, opulent and splendid. We held off our palates and forks to record these sumptuous moments.”