March 13, 2025 0 Comments Old pictures

‘How we were’ – episode 2

Lake Como trades of yesterday and today

The story of ‘How we were’ continues this month by going on a re-discovery of some typical trades of Lake Como and the environments in which they took place.

The great thing, this time too, is to find in each shot more or less known places, experienced in a completely different way!

What today is one of the most photographed views of the famous Greenway, until a little less than 40 years ago was one of the spots where you would go to get your coffee pots, buckets or cauldrons set up by the tinsmith.

While a stone’s throw from one of the lake’s busiest shores (Lido di Ossuccio) oil was being produced and under the porticoes of the villages near the shores the norm was to bump into fishermen busy with nets, hooks and fish. In the valleys, on the other hand (Val Sanagra, Val d’Intelvi, Valsassina), the unmistakable noise was that of the mills, always in action grinding wheat and chestnuts and making tools.

‘How we were’ ep. 1: The ancient rite of transhumance

Some of these crafts have practically disappeared, others, even if they still exist, have been transformed or have become something increasingly rare.

Again, looking at these photos, I realise how interconnected everything is: again, I realise that choosing, whenever possible, to buy a product from the territory means contributing to not letting ancient crafts, knowledge and traditions die.

It means keeping the territory itself alive. With all its diversity and beauty.