I spent the winter of 1981 traveling around Europe. My thinking back then was I wanted to make good memories while I was young. That way I would have good stories to tell when I was old. I am older now. I would say I have no regrets, but I do have one. I wish I was a better photographer back then. I was learning. It takes years to develop into a good photographer. I wish I wasn’t so worried about running out of film. I wish I had taken more photos. But I did what I did, and I have some photographs to show for it. And I have good memories.

One of my stops was in Pietrasanta, Italy. It is a small town on the west coast. It is near Florence. It is known for its sculpture. There are about fifty marble and bronze shops in town. Some of the world’s greatest artisans work here. Providence College had a summer art program there. The caretaker of the property was an artist, Joe Martel. He guided me around for a few days. It was an amazing experience.

Joe took me to this place where they make exact marble replicas of statues. At the time I was there, they were making a Michelangelo Pieta for the Vatican and a 17-foot Venus standing on a shell for a mall in California. The process involved making plaster casts from the original sculptures. These were brought back to the shop where the marble cutters would use them to make the replicas. When they were finished the plaster sculptures were just put into storerooms. These photographs are from those storerooms.