Northern Italy -- Fall 2004
We followed the Spring trip to Naples and Sicily (next gallery) with a tour to northern Italy in September 2004. Wife Patricia, our two daughters, and I joined one of Rick Steves' Europe Through The Back Door Best of Italy tours, September 7-23. Again I concentrated on non-traditional, hopefully artistic photography at each location along our route, which was extensive (map). This was the first extended trip where the Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 "L" IS [Image Stabilization] USM zoom lens served as my workhorse. With this trip I've commented about fine art photography on tours. As with my other photos taken abroad, don't expect the normal photos of the prominent landmarks.
Train Strike, Milan -- We arrived in Milan in the middle of one of Italy's infamous one-day strikes, this time restricted to local train workers in Milan. I didn't know that when I snapped this photo of people waiting, ... waiting, ... waiting -- but it certainly turned out to be apt.
Bellagio Walk -- Taken from the top of the pedestrian walk in Bellagio, looking across Lake Como.
Varenna -- Late afternoon sun, from Lake Como.
Varenna at Night
Verona -- Verona has many attractions, all of them overrun by tourists. So I limited myself to this fetching candid.
Alpe di Siusi -- Taken from above Compatsch, on a plateau named Puflatschalm, in the southern Tyrollean Alps. Although part of Italy, the principal language is Austrian German, many of the visitors are from Germany and Austria.
Relaxing Under the Cross -- In the Alpe di Siusi.
Bridge of Sighs -- In Venice, the bridge is so named not because of its striking beauty, but because as prisoners were taken from judgment in the Doge's Palace (left) to the dungeons (right), they caught their last sight of Venice through the bridge's small grilled windows.
Rialto Bridge -- Venice.
Monday Morning Market -- Near our hotel in Venice, just shy of the Rialto Bridge. The action of the photo is worthy in itself, but it provides an opportunity to drive home the importance of washing your fruits and vegetables. While photographing these market workers, a head of celery fell out of a case into the Grand Canal. The boatman just leaned over, picked it up, and put it back into the case!
Awaiting Charon -- Commuters at a Grand Canal ferry stop in Venice.
Duomo Detail -- Photos of the Florence Duomo's extraordinary facade are legion on the Internet. Capturing the facade without greatly distorting the perspective, and without a horde of tourists at its base, is virtually impossible. Instead, I wanted to provide a closeup of a small section of detail.
Grazie -- We did not see many beggars, and only a few gypsies. (Florence)
Tentative -- Of course, had I really wanted to photograph pidgeons, I missed my chance in the Piazza San Marco in Venice. (Florence)
... Played On -- I found almost too stereotypical the Italians engaged in animated conversation and the Pole oblivious, concentrating on his music. (Florence)
David's Gaze -- The experience of Michelangelo's David in person cannot adequately be captured in a photograph. This is but a feeble simulacrum. Rather than present the extraordinary intensity of his gaze in black and white, I elected to keep it in color so that the slight stains might be seen. (Also note the small chip in David's right lower eyelid.) This photograph is also my small protest against the policies of museums like Florence's Accademia forbidding all photography. Precluding flash photography I can understand, since the flashes distract other patrons and interfere with their enjoyment, but forbidding all photography simply protects sale of the museum's own cards and books. So I stood behind a column and took this extraordinary closeup -- for those technically inclined, this was taken without any support other than resting my arm against the column, using my 28-300mm image-stabilized zoom lens at its full 300mm focal length, yet the image is absolutely razor sharp! I love Canon's lenses!
Ponte Vecchio -- Florence's "Old Bridge" is one of its most photographed (and most heavily visited) attractions. This is about the only angle from which it may be photographed with no tourists in view. The weathered stucco facades drew my eye. From Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi,": O mio babbino caro / Mi piace, è bello, bello / Vo’ andare in Porta Rossa / A comperar l’anello! / Sì, sì, ci voglio andare! / E se l’amassi indarno, / Andrei sul Ponte Vecchio, / Ma per buttarmi in Arno! / Mi struggo e mi tormento! / O Dio, vorrei morir! / Babbo, pietà, pietà! / Babbo, pietà, pietà! -- English translation: Oh my dear papa / I like him, he is so handsome. / I want to go to Porta Rossa / To buy the ring! / Yes, yes, I want to go there! / And if my love were in vain, / I would go to the Ponte Vecchio / And throw myself in the Arno! / I am pining, I am tormented! / Oh God, I would want to die! / Father, have pity, have pity! / Father, have pity, have pity!
Duomo and Tower -- Wide angle photographs in Pisa are impossible unless one is willing to accept the hordes of people everywhere. I actually found this to capture the drama of the leaning tower quite effectively without having to show its entire length, which of course is familiar to everyone.
Pisa Duomo -- One could spend a lifetime photographing the religious art found in Italy's cathedrals and churches. This small panel in Pisa's Duomo caught my eye.
Adoration -- Girl and her dog, in Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre.
Observer -- A candid moment that speaks for itself. (Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre)
Manarola -- Mostly perched along this promontory with a small bay at lower left, Manarola fortunately may be photographed from a nice path easily accessed from the village. The other Cinque Terre villages are not so easily photographed; to do so requires hours of effort getting into location, thus making impossible visits to multiple villages in the course of a single day.
Carpe Diem -- Can there be a better name for a tourist-oriented shop*? Italian pottery is of course ubiquitous throughout northern Italy, but this was one of the more enticing shops, in the small, hilltop medieval town of San Gimignano. [* - If your Latin is rusty: "Seize the Day."]
Recycled -- Might we presume that this window where sits an ATM machine centuries ago looked out on farmers bringing produce in rustic wagons to San Gimignano's central square?
Patience -- A picture is worth a thousand words. (Il Campo, Siena)
Reload -- Another thousand words? (Il Campo, Siena)
Fruit Stand -- Returning from Siena's Duomo, we chanced upon this small street market. The display of fruit was pretty enough (albeit in the shade), but look at the table.
Lunch Break -- A typical lunch for tourists in any Italian city, I chanced upon this couple in Siena, motioned for permission to photograph them, and upon receiving assent, did so. How many of us will eat pizza sitting on a stranger's stoop, in this age of McDonalds and Burger King?
Sienna -- No, it is not a typo. The colors (and shapes!) of this passage caught my eye, making it literally a play on the city's name.
Worth a Second Look -- Seen walking Siena's streets.
Flock -- Assisi is a town of pilgrimage.
Five Friends -- A Sunday morning respite in Assisi.
Pieta 1 -- All know (and admire) Michelangelo's early and justly famous masterpiece in the Vatican. If going to Italy and the hilltowns of Umbria, however, be sure to visit Orvieto to see this astoundingly beautiful Pieta by Ippolito Scalza (1574). It was so striking that I've included an additional view (next image). (And -- shades of "The Da Vinci Code" -- note the weeping Mary Magdalene at lower right).
Pieta 2 -- Detail. (Again, the power of Canon's lens: handheld, 1/30 second @ 300mm, ISO 1600.)
Grace -- Henri Cartier-Bresson spoke of the "decisive moment." For all the beauty and grandeur of the Vatican Museum's art, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica itself, for me this scene trumped them all, and this photograph is possibly the best taken during the entire trip, first seen from far down St. Peter's nave and captured at just the right moment.
Night Walk -- I would never have guessed a night walk through Rome could be so rewarding, sensually and photographically. Here is a small detail from a fountain in the square in front of the Pantheon.
Trevi Fountain -- The wide view.
Trevi Fountain -- Detail.
Colosseum -- Photographing among the archeological artifacts of ancient Rome means photographing amongst the hordes. So my eye seeks other vistas. Once told, someone who has been there will say, "Yes, I can see that is the Colosseum." For others, it needs the title.
Impermanence -- Gazing across the Roman Forum, one realizes that these great trees are centuries, centuries younger than the great columns standing in the foreground. Yet even they are transitory across the ages yet to come. Will this scene remain two thousand years hence? Will anyone remain to make a record?
Silly -- Then, suddenly, tourists themselves become the subject.