If locations had the right to be called
“heaven on earth”, then the Amalfi Coast
would fancy its chances of owning it and
not being mocked. There are not many
places I know that can get away with
that. The timeless beauty and dramatic
location of communities such as Atrani
are well known; the dramatic peninsula
attracts five million visitors a year despite
car journeys that are not for the faint
hearted. This is no secret garden.
Making this photograph of the
generational supermodel Alessandra
Ambrosio in Atrani needed some
thought. It was a good premise, with some
world class constituents, but we could not
afford to be creatively lame.
We knew a modest B&B with one room
whose balcony had the right view of
Atrani. But my sense was that it needed
an extra variable to give that emphatic
sense of place. My leaning was to
construct a lemon grove - as the fruit
is symbolic of the region. In the Bay of
Naples, lemons are Jurassic; almost as
if they have evolved differently from
everywhere else and when they come
together on a grove, it offers a visual
feast.
This was not an easy set and the people
who made it happen were the locals of
Atrani: the Mayor; the Chief of Police; the
landlord and the lemon gardener. It was a
true team effort. There is such a sense of
community here and that is what makes
the Amalfi Coast truly special. The hilltop
scenery, the azure sea, the food and the
wine all transcend at some level, but it’s
the people living and working behind
Alessandra in this photograph who make
the location so special.
It is a “Room with a view” - a view of a
proper community.