The Festival, involving the greatest photographers of our time, reveals all the secrets and techniques of the art of photography, through various workshops, seminars, showrooms, multivisions. A real passport to the photographer's profession, and also an exciting adventure for non-professional photographers. From 24 June 2001, in Massa Marittima, in the heart of Tuscan Maremma.

Nine years have passed from its first edition, but passion and enthusiasm still remain the same.

The festival has grown up, year by year, with increasing appreciation and consent, becoming a landmark in the international panorama. The festival is distinguished by unique characteristics: first of all, its geographical position.

Tuscany has always charmed artists and inventors for its capacity of increasing their genius. Furthermore, Tuscany offers the serenity and quietness indispensable for the artist's concentration.

And in the historical city of Massa marittima all these qualities are magically reunited.

The abundance of archaeological and artistic attractions make of Massa Marittima a rare pearl, not only of Tuscany, but of the whole Europe, an amazing evidence of human creativity; its natural beauties are able to offer new colours to every-day experience. Moreover, the variety and quality of proposals: every year, thanks to the Toscana Foto Festival, the world's greatest photographers can work together, side by side.

A unique occasion for those who want to master the techniques and secrets of this art, an unforgettable experience for the simple amateurs.

Alessandro Mezzango, who attended the 2000 edition, thus wrote to the Festival's Artistic Director Franco Fontana: " I'm writing to thank you again, and share my emotions with you.

As the days passed in your company, the world began to rotate, inclining itself on the left, then on reverse, returning on the left again, and finally coming back to its original position, but now it was different.

When I came back home, everything had changed: the sun, the sky, the moon, my daughter, my wife, my house, my family, my things, my mother, my study, my photos, my assistants. Everything around me was different, and now I know it wasn't the world that had changed, but the way I perceived it. I feel like a very different person, with a greater inner strength, and I wish to propagate it to all the people I love.

I had never felt so deep into photography before. Now I can say it out loud: reality is not what I can see; reality is what passes through my camera". All this, and a lot more, are what the festival represents: seeing yourself and life through new eyes, representing reality through your feelings. But the Toscana Foto Festival is also a major professional opportunity.

Working with great masters like Franco Fontana, Marino Parisotto Vay, Douglas Kirkland, Giovanni Cozzi, can give you the possibility of learning the secrets of the art and the most audacious techniques, absorbing from these great artists their creative spirit. Last, but not least, the competitions: "Le Logge" and "Kodak Elite" awards offer an opportunity to see acknowledged your artistic ability, and give you a future as a photographer.