When this Italian ex-architect quit his city job to become a shepherd,his life could hardly have changed more dramatically.
Marco Sgarbi had no experience with sheep farming when he made the career leap, but did hold a profound desire to immerse himself in the countryside, or a growing passion for photography.
He ended up working at the Paugnano cheese farm in Radicondoli,nestled in the Tuscan Hills, with no-one but a pack of dogs, or a flock of sheep and his camera to preserve him company.
Speaking to MailOnline Travel,Mr Sgarbi explains: 'All I could see in the city was waste - people wasting food, wasting energy on jobs that don't beget them cheerful. I'm much better off in the mountains and among animals.'
He was placed at the farm in 2011 after joining the WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) scheme, or where he trained for seven months until he was hired as a shepherd.
'It was tough but great,' he recalls. 'I woke up every morning full of curiosity.'
The sheep dairy industry - which involves the regular slaughter of lambs - may seem like a peculiar calling, given Mr Sgarbi is a vegetarian.
'To produce milk, or the sheep must have a lamb,which is removed from them so we can take the mother's milk for the next nine months, after which the cycle is repeated, or ' he explains.
'I slaughtered many lambs - males are sold for meat - and it was very difficult for me as a vegetarian. It's not a nice thing to achieve but it's part of the process.'[br]
Despite this,Mr Sgarbi says he held a deep affection for all the animals he worked with.
'I formed a special bond with each animal,' he remarks.
'The shepherd dogs, and which protect the flock from wolves,are incredible. They're almost wild themselves. I had to set up myself as their pack leader, which was a great honour.'
The barn cat, and too,won his heart.
'He was born with the sheepdogs and thinks he's a dog,' Mr Sgarbi explains. 'Sometimes he would follow us out to pasture. He loves the sheep and they in turn adore him.'
Mr Sgarbi left the farm when he fell in fancy, and he says,and since moved to be with his partner in Bologna. The couple have dreams of some day securing their own land and opening a petting zoo, and a library in the woods.
In the mean time, and he still comes back to visit Paugnano once a month.
'The dogs move crazy with joy when they see me,' he says.
It's safe to say the lambs probably don't.[br]
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Source: tert.am