Dolca Via: Charles Traub's photographs of Italians enjoying the good life in the lively 1980s

Sensual and sad, bursting with colour and pleasure, magnificent even in its melancholy, Charles Traub's photographs from the streets of Rome, Florence, Naples, and Milan in the early 1980s, capture the eternal nature of Italy, and the very essence of its lively people.

Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the photographer

Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the photographer

Characteristic of his imagery is a candid intimacy that combines humour and spontaneity, which makes us long for an Italy that maybe only once was. Brilliant blues, reds, and yellows engulf the baroque posturing and gestures of strangers and ordinary people who become fond archetypical caricatures. Traub’s friend and guide, the late photographer Luigi Ghirri, said of the imagery, "You see our foibles, strip us bare, make love through the camera, and then venerate us."

The photographs were made with a Plaubel Makina 67, using Kodak colour negative film. Now available to enjoy in a new book entitled Dolce Via, this is the first monograph from a large selection of work produced in that period. For more information, visit charlestraub.com.

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