En Route to Firenze

Jewelry Box

We are currently on our way to Florence, Italy. I'm am participating in a study abroad program for school, and will be in Europe all summer. We left Paris yesterday after spending four days there, and spent last night in a small valley town named Chamonix in the French Alps. After Florence, we will visit Venice, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, and Brugge. For the second half of the summer, we will be on the Worcester College campus in Oxford, England.

After a slight snag in the beginning of the trip (I couldn't get a passport in time to leave with the rest of the group, and had to fly out the next day) I arrived in Paris safely. I had high hopes for this trip photographically. I wanted to capture both the experience I was having, as well as the "essence" of the city, as cliche as that sounds. I did not want the normal touristy shots. Unfortunately, I believe I utterly failed at this in Paris, which is unfortunate because it is one of the liveliest, most photographic, and simply most amazing places I've ever been. Yet, I hardly took my camera out of the bag. Why? Well, I've deduced it down to two main issues.

1) I don't want to take the touristy shots. My determination to avoid bland tourist "I was there" shots led me to take very few shots at all. Every place I went I saw beautiful sights, and hundreds of people pointing cameras at them. I knew that if I picked up my camera, I would be taking the exact same shot, adding nothing new, nothing interesting, nothing graphic or photographic, simply the same boring shot. So I didn't pick up my camera, and consequently have very little to show of my experience, touristy or not.

2) I travel mostly with groups of 4 to 8. Now, this is great, because this trip is certainly about more than photographs. There are some wonderful people on this trip with me and I've really enjoyed meeting new people and getting closer to those I've know before. However, this is about the worst situation to be in photographically. Groups in general (the exception being groups of photographers) move too quickly to do a photographic subject justice. Tourists snap a frame or two and move on; they've satisfied their photographic need; they've "got it." To truly photograph a subject, though, one needs to spend time with it, learn it and its details and approach it from many viewpoints and angles. This, of course, takes the kind of time a large group doesn't have. So, as a photographer in a group of non-photographers, I have a choice. Go through the photographic process, and hold up the group and risk being left behind, or just take the tourist shot with everyone else and move on. Neither option seemed sufficient, and I ended up with no pictures.

So what's the solution? Well, I've decided to try two things, both of which compromise my initial ideals. First, I've decided to take the tourist shots. Let's not fool ourselves, I am a tourist, after all. Even if the photograph has no more of a statement than "This is what the Eiffel Tower looked like," that should now be counted worthy enough to snap the shot. I've got to start releasing the shutter more, and quit worrying about whether I'm taking the shot as a "photographer" or as a "tourist" --stupid labels anyways. Even if I don't get the shots I want, at least I'll have something to show for it. And, once I get the photographic juices flowing (which will never happen until I look through the viewfinder), who knows--maybe something will happen. I guarantee it won't happen if my camera stays in the bag.

This second compromise is to occasionally leave the group. I would like to set aside some time in each city--preferably towards the end of my stay--for myself, to photograph some part of the city alone. With all my bland snapshots, I should be able to narrow down what I think deserves the most attention. I'd like to then go back and explore that subject more, finding out what it is I really respond to. This can only be done alone, which is unfortunate because enjoy being with the people so much. The people I've joined up with really are wonderful people, and these places I'm visiting would be far more boring without them. I do not want to leave the group, but I feel the social sacrifice will certainly be worth it, if I am able to explore these incredible scenes more closely. This effort will certainly be harder than the first: I can reluctantly force myself to take the tourist photo, but it will be difficult for me to turn down an offer to go with a group to be by myself with my camera. Well it sounds kind of sad when I put it like that. I hope they understand.

I'm finishing this entry at 2:00 A.M. the next morning in Florence. We took a walk through the city at sunset, and ate in a pretty nice restaurant: we had penne with beef sauce, pork tenderloin, white beans, and the most amazing tira misu I've ever had in my life. From here on out, it's gelato every day.

Buonanotte!