In March of 2020, Italy and Spain were the epicentre of the pandemic. As the deadly virus continued to spread around Europe, my heart got heavier and heavier.
Many places in Mediterranean Europe have a special place in my heart because my partner and I have travelled to several countries there and experienced some incredible personal growth and adventures. In my much younger years, I lived a short while in Madrid and still maintain close friendships with the family I stayed with.
So, when it was time to design a new notebook collection for the Summer season, I decided to create a collection as a tribute to that beautiful part of the world.
Going through my old photographs to see what I had to work with was an interesting process, partly because lots of memories were popping up. Many of my memories of Mediterranean cities involve bustling streets, friendly people and having food and drinks on patios in a lively atmosphere. This was a stark contrast to what was actually the reality in Europe, where many nations were locked-down and images of empty cultural and tourist sites were circulating in the news.
I wanted to call out the historic quiet that had descended upon the streets of Europe, so I started looking for photographs that did not include people. (This was a difficult task.) But I wanted to honour the typical vibrancy of the region that I know it will one day regain, so I decided to add an effect to the images to boost the saturation of the colours. The result was a beautiful collection of images that are both tranquil and colourful.
The photographs I selected were shot in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy, where the cultures are rich and the people are strong. So, let’s not be disheartened, and let the Mediterranean vibes live on this summer and into the future.