I'm currently in Florence, Italy, the birthplace of the Renaissance. And while the city's long past glory days are evident everywhere, the main reason for tourism here, today I looked at the people of the 21st century. I took a few pictures of Italian people today, and rather than share them, I want to describe why I thought they should be photographed.
1. A woman sitting and blowing smoke from her cigarette with the awareness that she was a cool drink of water. There's something fascinating about the process of people watching and the awareness that other people notice you. Most of us shrug ourselves off in the presence of others, continuing in the tedium of everyday life. But some people soak in their selves, they stand out because they have confidence-- they make themselves figures to look at. This woman arched her neck and blew smoke out with perched lips, mirroring Audrey Hepburn in New York City. Becoming the cool Italian smoker.
2. Two older women standing at an outside market, eating gelato. These two women looked authentically Italian to me. They had salt and pepper bobs, and one was relishing a cone of gelato and speaking with enthusiasm to her friend. I was isolated from their conversation by language, but nonetheless they seemed supreme in their friendship.
3. A man whizzing past on his Vespa. I took an action shot, and happy his helmet shows a blurred Italian flag on it. I love taking pictures of people and then leaving the scene. They may be aware I was taking their picture, or I could have taken a shot of the building behind them. This man capitulated the fast action of Italian motorcycles, and people moving in Italy.
So there you have it, a sliver of my Italian experience. (Sorry for excessive fragment use and typos, typing on a phone isn't the smartest decision.)
Italy is most likely the last country I'll be visiting outside of those in the United Kingdom, and as my international travels are nearing a close I realize I want to come away from this year with an idea of not only the places I've seen, but the people surrounding them.
