a few years ago i discovered this fantastic book filled with extraordinary photographs of chic people like the paley’s, diana vreeland, the agnelli’s, rock hudson, valentino, talitha getty and audrey hepburn to name a few, however, the majority of the book was a little difficult for me to gather because it was in italian- i was not detoured!

the pictures i had never seen before, which is pretty rare- the amazing private snapshots of chic people, many of them favorites, the hand-written script throughout (get the book to see this), the art direction were enough, however- i knew there was a story and it didn’t take long for me to research it!

so here it is- countess marina cicogna, and italian movie producer and the granddaughter of count giuseppe volpi di misurata, who founded the venice film festival, had taken all these photographs in the sixties of her glamorous friends. the snapshots were sitting in drawers and forgotten albums for years. before producing movies, marina led an idyllic life hanging out with society, artists, movie stars, writer and directors- what a time!

close friends encouraged cicogna to gather her photographs and have a small show at a paris gallery. french minister of culture frédéric mitterrand turned up to the 2008 show and invited her to stage a further exhibition at the villa medeci, but it was karl lagerfeld, who had seen these pictures in paris, that further encouraged marina to compile her treasure trove in a book, scritti e scatti.

a countess with a glamorous life taking pictures of chic friends in stylish settings- so the story goes! private snapshots dusted off, put on exhibit, compiled for a book- the story continues! the discovery of a beautiful book, a little research, appreciation of a glorious time, perfect material for sunday book club- the story today! enjoy the beauty, inspiration and the discovery, along with the ongoing story of chic people, glamour places and style things- may it forever continue!