Portrait(s) of the week – Via degli Orti

I swapped the bustle of Hackney for the sweeping Tuscan Hills (and a full-blown Italian heatwave) during the first week of August. I was there to take part in a workshop on ‘Storytelling with Portraits’ with the wonderful documentary photographer Rena Effendi as part of the Tuscany Photographic Workshops programme.

Italy is famous for its fresh, flavoursome produce and there was an abundance of kitchen gardens – or orti – around the village of San Quirico, where we were staying. I chose this topic – the gardens and those who tended them – as a doorway to exploring the way of life in this little Tuscan town.

Via degli Orti is the name of the San Quirico street, lined with walled kitchen gardens, where most of these photos were taken.