Procida

Procida
is a photographer’s dream. The cinematic allure starts
with the slow approach by boat across the milky waters from Naples
at dawn. It continues with the dappled light in the lemon groves,
the crumbling villas, the hidden beaches, and that moment of
recognition as you find yourself strolling through Marina
Corricella – the film set for Anthony Minghella’s adaptation of The
Talented Mr Ripley. Finally, the images find substance in the
people you see on this tiny island: Vespa drivers delivering crates
of peaches and joyously wrinkled Italian grandparents, swimming and
sunbathing and eating spaghetti alle vongole on the beach for
days.

Procida’s aesthetic is old-school, and it’s not somewhere you
want to be without a decent supply of film. I came woefully
unprepared. The day after landing on the island, having used up all
my photos on light-drenched beach shots, I went scouring the
island’s tabacchi shops for some back-up. I struck gold in Piazza
dei Martiri, where I purchased four disposable Kodak cameras
covered in a layer of sticky dust. They were what the Italians call
“usa e getta” – use and chuck. Their “use by” dates had long since
expired, but their availability speaks volumes about the island’s
nostalgic appeal.

For the rest of the week, we camped among olive trees just
metres from the beach and relaxed into the Procida pace of life as
I rolled and clicked and rolled and clicked.

Visit our Pocket
Guide to Procida to discover more of Italy’s 2022 Capital of
Culture, or follow @phoebetravelpig
for more of the photographer’s updates.