Lena Everding. Casa Capra October 2021.

One of the most beautiful examples of local supply in rural areas is the Trattoria del Peso in Belvedere Langhe; a small shop next to the restaurant where you can stock up on essential produce (this includes cigarettes, truffles and the latest film by Remo Schellino on DVD, of course).

These shops serve a special purpose, especially in situations like the present one; they often organise home deliveries, without which many people would not have been able to access supplies under the guidelines. For many places, these shops provide a lifeline, giving confidence to people in the local area and tightening the social fabric.

While supermarkets and online commerce provide a service that is as necessary as it is impersonal, it is not always accessible to everyone everywhere. This is especially true for older people living in small villages, for example. According to a recent study, the presence of small shops has declined by 12.1% in Italy over the last 10 years; a loss of about 200,000 neighbourhood shops of all descriptions (not just grocery shops).

With her photos, Lena Everding tells us about these very special places. It was our pleasure to host the talented photographer as an Artist in Residence at our Casa Capra for a week in October 2021.

Lena Everding

After growing up in a small town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Lena moved to the mountains of Austria in winter 2019. She lives in Innsbruck and works as a photographer, as well as a marketing and content manager for a startup in Montafon.

Lena has had an interest in photography since her youth, but it wasn’t until she spent a semester in Istanbul that she really fell under its spell.There she went in search of small, subtle moments in everyday life that are often not given much importance. This is where her love of photography blossoms; capturing special moments, shapes and perspectives and making them visible to others.

You can see her work at lena-everding.de and on Instagram @lena-everding.