In an article called ‘Postcards from Tasmania’ he wrote:

That is what is extraordinary about Tasmania. It’s the quality and colour of the light. If you have grown up with it, you may not be aware of it. You may never have noticed. The newcomer cannot help but be aware of it. The light sets Tasmania apart. On a clear day, especially in the spring or the autumn, there is a distinct blueness to the light. It is as if one is viewing the landscape through a filtered pane of glass.

It sharpens the colours, gives an edge to the tones that is not found in the corresponding latitudes in the northern hemisphere, on the Mediterranean coast for instance. The light in northern Italy is quite different, diffused. The Tuscany landscape is filtered by a man-made haze, which renders beautiful pastels in a soft focus.

It is the lack of haze, the intensity and glare of the unfiltered sun which gives the Tasmanian landscape its striking sharpness, a seemingly infinite depth of field.

Perhaps his frequent trips to Italy have now made him more enamoured with the soft focus view and he is today intent on helping achieve that effect locally?

Allan Moult
Editor, www.leatherwoodonline.com