I started harassing Anne Telford in 2001, at the time she was Managing Editor for Communication Arts. I called her and asked “Will you meet me for coffee and check out my book?”. In the meetings following the first one, I would flip the pages of my portfolio and think “I would be a great character for a feature in Communication Art”. “How many Italian photographers do you know who moved to Montana to take a different approach to life? This is going to be an easy sell” It turned out it wasn’t an easy sale. As time went by I wished I could have just slipped a $100 bill in between the pages of my portfolio but that only works in Italy. More years went by, the coffees turned me into a caffeine addict but I didn’t give up. Anne watched my dog Tobi get old, my hair (that is left) get grayer and my career grow, but still no article. I always believed that in life, perseverance will get you anything, but this time I was failing. Maybe I am just not worthy enough I started thinking. A few years later Anne moved to San Diego and my surf addiction kept me away from her. When I would find myself in So Cal I just couldn’t find the time to surf and also do the important things like calling old friends. Years went by without talking with Anne.
This fall someone from Communication arts called me telling she had good news for me. I figured they had a special rate for a 100 year subscription to the magazine but soon this person told me, as if she knew me, that they were going to feature me on CA. Really? I still wasn’t sure I understood correctly and asked her to e-mail me with the details just in case there was a scam behind it or language barrier had me misunderstand. Shortly I received an email from Anne Telford with the details of my feature. Anne? Really? I guess so many years went by that I didn’t recognize her voice. It only took 12 years. In Italian we say “Meglio tardi che mai”. We talked again. “I need to come to Montana to interview you in the next few weeks”. Anne said. In the next two weeks? September is sacred to me, this is the month I spend bow hunting for elk. I have turned down important assignments in September to be in the woods. This interview really had to happen in September? “I am really busy “shooting” this month…” I begged Anne without success… I tried to push the interview as late as I could but two weeks is all I got.
As soon as I could I ran into the woods with Tobi, my dog, and my bow. At night, in my little tent in the middle of the most pristine wild country I sat thinking, ”What will I tell Anne in all these days?”. She was going to be with me for 3 days and 3 days is a lot of talking. “Will I pass the test? Do I have enough smart things to say? Do I even have enough to say smart or not smart?” I have been interviewed before but not for 3 days. Maybe a few sentences here and there. So many questions ran through my head and I found myself rehearsing possible conversations and scenarios instead of sleeping… Getting an elk is a very important part of my life as it provides the meat I eat for the whole year but as I spent days in the woods I felt like I should have been doing more important things, like getting ready for an interview. It took me 8 years to get my first elk with a bow so is no easy task and was not going to happen quickly. After a week in the woods I started feeling the pressure any responsible person would feel and decided that next day I was going to cut my two weeks short and go back to Bozeman without meat to get ready. That evening, as by miracle, I managed to call in an elk and everything came together. Harvesting an elk is a very special and a very long process after the actual kill. I spent that whole night field dressing the animal and pulling it out, piece by piece on my back. In grizzly country, alone, in the dark, is really not my favorite way to spend the night but it has to be done.
Anne showed up and on the drive to my house all the fears vanished. I had forgotten what an easy person she is to be with. She is independent and entertaining and immediately made herself at home. For being the editor of an art magazine she had a very adventurous life, she worked for the coast guard and was accustomed to camping and handling guns. Very important attributes if you want to fit in Montana. That night the sausage making went flawless, Anne pulled up her sleeves and immersed herself in the process, helping with the steps and becoming a great asset. The best part is that she got to take some home.The next week I was going to process it and turn it into those easy to grab plastic wrapped pieces of meat we see in the store. Making sausage with the scraps and secondary cuts was the last step of the process and happened to coincide with Anne’s arrival. I figured that making hot Italian sausage was going to be a great activity while talking about my career. Knowing Anne, I figured she would have been very entertained and after all, what a better example of my lifestyle?
Next day I wanted her to experience the beauty of Montana. I truly love this place, especially the wild, rugged part of Montana and the best way to describe why I love this place so much was to just take her and see it for herself. “Anne, do you want to go for a real adventure?” I asked her, I knew she would have agreed. Next day we took off for the mountains with the plan of driving 15 miles in the backcountry on a back breaking, remote, 4wheeler track. Maybe not the wisest idea but she was game. Following the protocols of traveling in grizzly country we geared up the 4wheer with a 44 magnum and the bear spray. 
As we started the ride up the bumpy road I thought “the only REALLY bad thing that could happen is the 4wheeler breaking”. I bought the Suzuki Eiger 400 because is a reliable workhorse. Ranchers use them for their simple mechanics and reliability. In the 6 years that I have owned it nothing has ever happened to it. Breaking down was not going to be an option. Anne wanted to try the 4wheeler and ended up doing most of the driving and I just sat in the back and enjoyed the ride. At the end of the trail we stopped and took a walk. Sweeping mountains and wilderness as far as you could see, I will never get enough of it. Anne was snapping pictures and I just took it all in as if had seen the place for the first time. We went back to the 4wheeler and when I tried to start it the engine made a very unusual noise, not a good one, and died. I tried to start it another time while hiding the sweat pouring down my forehead. I suddenly felt very hot. This time the noise got worst and I heard the terrifying sound of a piston seizing up. Trying my best to look casually relaxed I looked at Anne’s hiking boots that she hadn’t worn for 20 years. I then looked down at my shoes, which happened to be city shoes. I felt my well fitting designer jeans get tighter. I thought about what was laying ahead of us and silently cursed at my poor choice of attire. These are my hunting grounds and know them like the back of my hand. I knew the chance of running into anyone in the middle of the day to help us out was slim to none. A hunter was our only chance but by 12pm any reasonable hunter would be back to camp. Deep, dark, grizzly infested timbers and a long walk separated us from the trailhead. Walking at night in the dark without headlamp is something I am accustomed to, as I normally slip in and out of the woods in the dark to be undetected by elk but for Anne it would have been a different story. What about the reality of a 15 mile hike for someone who hadn’t used her hiking boots in 20 years? I knew a short cut of 9 miles but in the dark it could have been a less than ideal option. I was running all the scenarios in my head and trying to figure out how to break the news to Anne when very aware of what was going on she asked me casually “What are our options?”.
As we started the ride up the bumpy road I thought “the only REALLY bad thing that could happen is the 4wheeler breaking”. I bought the Suzuki Eiger 400 because is a reliable workhorse. Ranchers use them for their simple mechanics and reliability. In the 6 years that I have owned it nothing has ever happened to it. Breaking down was not going to be an option. Anne wanted to try the 4wheeler and ended up doing most of the driving and I just sat in the back and enjoyed the ride. At the end of the trail we stopped and took a walk. Sweeping mountains and wilderness as far as you could see, I will never get enough of it. Anne was snapping pictures and I just took it all in as if had seen the place for the first time. We went back to the 4wheeler and when I tried to start it the engine made a very unusual noise, not a good one, and died. I tried to start it another time while hiding the sweat pouring down my forehead. I suddenly felt very hot. This time the noise got worst and I heard the terrifying sound of a piston seizing up. Trying my best to look casually relaxed I looked at Anne’s hiking boots that she hadn’t worn for 20 years. I then looked down at my shoes, which happened to be city shoes. I felt my well fitting designer jeans get tighter. I thought about what was laying ahead of us and silently cursed at my poor choice of attire. These are my hunting grounds and know them like the back of my hand. I knew the chance of running into anyone in the middle of the day to help us out was slim to none. A hunter was our only chance but by 12pm any reasonable hunter would be back to camp. Deep, dark, grizzly infested timbers and a long walk separated us from the trailhead. Walking at night in the dark without headlamp is something I am accustomed to, as I normally slip in and out of the woods in the dark to be undetected by elk but for Anne it would have been a different story. What about the reality of a 15 mile hike for someone who hadn’t used her hiking boots in 20 years? I knew a short cut of 9 miles but in the dark it could have been a less than ideal option. I was running all the scenarios in my head and trying to figure out how to break the news to Anne when very aware of what was going on she asked me casually “What are our options?”.I looked at her as casually as she did and replied “walk out”. I braced myself for Anne’s reaction. I expected at least a scream and possibly Anne hysterically beating me on the chest when once again she very casually replied “Ok” and went back to taking pictures unphased. (To find out what happened see Communication Arts article “Paolo Marchesi Big Sky Country by Anne Telford” , if you don’t subscribe to CA you can click on the article I posted up above and zoom in on txt).
Nice work!
Congratulations on getting published. You deserve it!
Thanks everyone :)
I want some of the sausage
Congratulations Paolo! You featured in Com Arts is loooong overdue and a testament to your brilliant creativity! Nice article…
Christina
行動電源…
I think you’ve mentioned some very fascinating particulars , thankyou for your post….