SEPTEMBER 2010 – The ruins of the Casa Al Mare Francesco Sartori at the west coast of Sardinia. It used to be the main building of the Colonia Marina di Funtanazza, a holiday retreat for the families of the workers of the nearby mines of Montevecchio and Ingurtosu. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
This is the sixth and last image of a mini series covering the Colonia Marina di Funtanazza at the west coast of Sardinia in Italy. The first image can be found here.
This detail shows the main building of the retreat again. I like this photo for its clear lines that criss-cross the image. Also, the reduced color range is attractive in my view. The building had been painted in the typical colors of the south, a light brown terracotta tone, and yes, the rusty metal blends in perfectly (even if unintended.)
It is sad to see that these areas have not been properly broken down, and one wonders why? Certainly, one reason is that public communities have limits to what can be done. It’s expensive to break it down, but it’s expensive to maintain the infrastructure of such places, too.
The obvious question is: Are there investors planning to renovate and re-open this raw diamond in the Mediterranean Sea?
It seems there were plans to re-open the resort, much smaller than before. Here’s more information from the Gruppo d’Intervento Giuridico ODV (in Italian.)
And here you can read and see a bit more about the place in this 2021 article in The Gazetta del Medio Campidano (in Italian.)
To conclude, we found the Colonia Marina di Funtanazza pretty bizarre – and that should be ‘pretty’ and ‘bizarre’ at the same time, especially for photographers. Whatever happens to it, the place is well worth a side-trip when you are in the region. When you do, it may be further detoriated (and be even more bizarre) or have been turned into a shiny spot for wealthy tourists seeking privacy and tranquility. Either way, it will be interesting to follow the development.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date & Time | 02-SEP-2010, 11:37 |
| Location | Arbus, Sardinia, Italy |
| Camera | Canon EOS 5D |
| Lens | Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM |
| ISO | 400 |
| Exposure | 1/250 sec at f/16 |
| Digital Image Source Format | Canon Camera RAW (CR2) |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 4232 x 2912 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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