La Dolce Vita

August 18, 2017 Coco Zaza

Italian film director Federico Fellini is one of the worlds most distinctive filmmakers following WWII. His style was influenced particularly by the Neorealist movement, where he developed his own methods mixing fantasy and baroque images with the ordinary realness of the world. Fellini was inspired by his dreams and he started recording them in notebooks in the 1960s. His dreams and the many events that made up his life were the raw material that were used for his films. Growing up in an Italy that was dominated by Mussolini and Pope Pius XII, Fellini's life was nothing short of interesting. He created the film La Dolce Vita, and it reminded me so much of my journey here in Italy...

Beauty and the Beast

August 16, 2017 Coco Zaza

Before our trip, Sarah sent me a number of Instagram photos of places that she wanted to pass through while we were in Europe. She found this ballroom randomly when she was stumbling down a rabbit hole of Italian hashtags and decided for the both of us that we would be going there to shoot. The Palace of Venaria is located in a town called Turin. We were leaving Lake Como and driving to the Asti wine region in Piedmont country, so it wasn't too far out of the way to stop by for lunch, a little history, and a new fleeting adventure!...

Comotose

August 11, 2017 Coco Zaza

Lake Como is about an hour-and-a-half car ride from Milano centrale, which is just a hopscotch away to enter into an entirely new culture. Here are a few more photo highlights from Villa del Balbianello, one of my all time favorite villas. Naturally it's filled with tourists and has made its debut through films like James Bond and Starwars, but it still holds a special place in my heart from the first time I visited with my family in 2005. By no means do these shots do this villa any justice (actually on second thought, they are pretty spectacular thanks to my amazing photographer Sarah), but at least you can get a glimpse of the dreamy world that I got to live for a few days...

Bellagio

July 31, 2017 Coco Zaza

In today's world, style is not just about how we dress. It's become a way of life and how we live, where we live, which restaurants we eat at, which festivals we go to, where we go on holiday, which hotels we stay at on our trips, and how we photograph, capture, and share those moments with the world. It's all become quite an interesting way of life to me. What do you share with others and what do you keep private for yourself? Are you missing out on key milestones in your friends lives if you aren't on Facebook and Instagram? How many friends are too many friends? Where do you draw the line?...

Checking-In from Lake Como

July 25, 2017 Coco Zaza

Just checking-in with another post from Lake Como, where we have spent a few days exploring villas, hopping around the lake on beautiful wooden boats, and have eaten our way through the best that Northern Italy has to offer. Sarah and I have been having some detox lunches at some of the hotel restaurants that we've been exploring, which are something along the lines of a frothy salad with green beans & fresh herbs, a side of steamed vegetables, and a light linguine clam pasta...

Post-Office Girl

July 25, 2017 Coco Zaza

I read Stefan Zweig's stories throughout Italy. I purchased one of his novels in Milano and carried it with me through five Italian cities. Post-Office Girl is beautifully written, sad, and spectacular. On my nightstand in Brooklyn is also Zweig's masterpiece, The Collected Novellas of Stefan Zweig: Burning Secret, A Chess Story, Fear, Confusion, Journey into the Past. You know, Stefan Zweig is actually much more modern and clever than what you generally read today...

Firenze Amore

July 18, 2017 Coco Zaza

I sometimes find that I have a difficult time with men; not because I am difficult to be with, but because I am such a strong woman. I've found that most men do not like that, even when they think they do. It's a rarity in itself to find friends that truly understand me, yet alone a companion, and I think my friend W is the same way...

VIET

June 13, 2017 Coco Zaza

These photos were captured after I left Bangkok over the holidays to spend a few days at the Amiana Resort in Nha Trang. Though it's a relatively small town, much to my surprise, my friend Justin (Founder of Ideapod) just happened to be a few miles down the road from where I was staying. I had noticed that we were both in Nha Trang when I was browsing through Instagram as I was just about to take off on my very dangerous flight to Cam Ranh (the closest airport for you to fly into if heading to Nha Trang, which is about 45 minutes away) from Bangkok. Isn't the world funny, like that?...