Born in Frankfurt in 1955, Bernhard Hartmann began his career at the age of 18 as a press photographer. Self-taught, he studied art and became a landscape photographer. He owes his success to his breathtaking representations of historical buildings and monuments. This melancholic image stems from his quest to immortalise deserted sites in the course of his travels. Near Lake Como, in Italy, he captures the architectural splendour of La Cassinella, a traditional villa that is now an intimate and luxurious setting to get away from it all.