Fred Iltis’s photos will soon be on the walls!

Fred Iltis’s photos will soon be on the walls of a most appropriate place for them.

It’s the Azalai Bookshop in Milan, where the world’s cultures are enshrined under  the colored covers of the books.

Unluckily I didn’t have the chance to meet Fred, but  it’s almost as if we shaked hands.

It happened right there in the bookshop, while I was talking with Signora Giovanna Tescari, one of the two ladies who own and run the bookshop. I was looking at her in the eyes, when she talked about the bookshop’s philosophy, and suddenly my attention was  drawn by all the Colors of the World behind her shoulders. Then I realized that it was the right place. Just as though Fred had told me: “My dear Lodovico, this is the nicest place ever, that Daniele and Felix could have chosen!”

Then I had to rush out and home onto my Vespa scooter, before I lost that very peculiar feeling  I wanted to write down, rightaway.

The Azalai Bookshop is one of those places you may want to discover.

Calling it a “bookshop” is limiting, in fact it’s far more than that. The place is located in an alley that runs off  the main Via Cesare Correnti with a slight curve. Therefore it lies  between brackets from the hurly-burly of the city. That’s the kind of impressions about Milan which you are going to lose when you drive. You just have to walk in order to watch and live them. So you come along the narrow sidewalk and stop in front of the windows, looking at the colors inside. A warm kind of red, and the yellow of  sunlight, those were the colors that seemed to prevail. The red and bright yellow of my pleasure,  discovering the deep diversities of the world’s cultures.

I suggest that you reach the Azalai Bookshop starting from the Carrobbio and taking Via Cesare Correnti.  The first on the left will be Via Gian Giacomo Mora.  A few steps on the right hand side and you’ll see the bookshop’s windows.

The Photo Show will take place in the red brick walled basement-cantina underneath, where those bricks have been there for centuries (it’s the area of the archeological Roman sites.)

All the colors and perfumes of the books will keep you company when you’ll be approaching the stairs that lead you down to Fred’s photos. Once you get there, you’ll be ready to catch all their tones and nuances.

This city has its own old  history that is more lively and can get closer to the sky than its future skyscrapers. Right in the alleys you can discover the local dwellers’ capacities to collect and spread culture. An open culture to the world,  breaking through the barriers. Just as Fred Iltis’s photos.

Now I can write again that Milan exists!   Take your time on Tuesday November 17 and start walking, with no rush, along Via Cesare Correnti. Go to the opening of Fred Iltis’s Photoshow.

Daniele and Felix are waiting for you!