The first time I met
Allen was at the Caffè Degli Artisti in Cortona. I was having a cup of coffee with a
friend of mine and few other people. As they knew I had just finished my
studies in photography, they started talking about this American photographer
that had been hanging around for quite a few years. Everybody knew him, but there was a kind of
fascinating mystery around him. “He’s a
character. He’s been living here for long time but doesn’t speak a single word
of Italian. You should really meet him, he’ll be happy to speak with you.”
Everybody said something about Allen, but nobody really knew him very well.
While our talking was going on a solitary man passed by us, almost unnoticed, and slowly moved to the bar counter with his Leica hanging from his neck .
While our talking was going on a solitary man passed by us, almost unnoticed, and slowly moved to the bar counter with his Leica hanging from his neck .
Some images from the Railroad series, which launched Allen in the advertising world
I knew afterword that
Allen used to be a very well established commercial photographer in Atlanta,
working for brands like Nike or Coca Cola. He had been travelling the world on
assignment with a team of assistants. “But I realized I didn’t like the
advertising world, it was fake! I wanted to photograph real people.” That’s why
Allen abandoned his previous life and moved to Cortona, where he established a
photography school: the Cortona Center of Photography.
Pictures from America
Pictures from the series White on White
We quickly became friends
and eventually I taught some of his workshops with him . I saw him as a mentor,
as a source of inspiration. I lived in Rome from 2006 to 2011 and every time I
went back to Tuscany I always managed to find some spare time to go and visit
him.
His house was small.
Maybe not that small if empty, but very small after he filled it up with all
the photography equipment he had. The kitchen was filled with developing tanks,
reels, thermometers, scissors. Under the sink there were chemical powders,
developers, fixers. Films in the fridge. A central long table in the living
room with two desktops and printers, scanners and monitors.
Pictures and proof prints were scattered all around the place. There wasn’t a
square inch available to put a plate out for lunch. And nobody could touch his
stuff. Signs of Do not touch! Or Keep
Away were systematically located on piles of films around the house.
Some pictures from Allen's latest work on Cortona
It was fascinating to listen to him talking about his photographs, the way he had taken them, the stories behind them. He would spend hours telling you funny things about his pictures.
Allen left us on January
22nd this year, at the age of 76. He will always be remembered by
his friends as a great person and as a
great photographer who spent his entire life following his passion. Some
of his photographs from Italy will be exhibited in this year edition of Cortona On The Move.
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