Imagine you’re in Rome strolling on the Via dei Fori Imperiali towards the Colosseum. You are captivated by the ruins of the forum and of the buzz of the streets around you but you can’t take your eyes off of the Colosseum. You’ve been in Rome for several days now and you’ve seen the Colosseum from many angles, but there is something about this perspective that really captivates you. You stop quickly (bravely) in the middle of the road to take an image of the Colosseum with the street and the forum ruins and the hills above. As you move closer, the amphitheater fills more of the frame. Your last shot is a close up image of an architectural detail. When you get home and edit the series down to your ten most favorite images, you place them into and album of their own – each photograph on its own unique page. Viewed separately, each image has its unique appeal. Viewed together, they tell a different story – they have a movement that captures something of the pervading atmosphere of Roman history.
[Florence, Italy – July 2010]
Last summer in Florence I found a great fountain built into the corner of two quaint side streets in the Oltrano district. Once I found the best angle (standing on the base of the fountain with my arms braced on the basin’s sides) I worked with how much of what I saw before me I wanted in the frame. I waited for the scooter to be in just the right spot as I made the second image below. If I could step back in time I would step back from the fountain and continue my shooting – back and back and back I would step taking a long series of images. Here (a continent away in Ohio) I’ve cropped the image to create the effect of macro and wide-angle.
[Florence, Italy – July 2010]
The close-up image makes me wonder about the artisan who crafted the face and left the chisel marks in the nose. The wider angle image with its fruit stand, motorbike, and cobblestones is quintessential Florence. On your next adventure, plan to take at least one photo series of a specific object or location. They are fun to share, fun to reminisce over, and a great exercise in seeing. Pick out a scene in your own neighborhood and start practicing now. This summer I have big plans to practice the exercise outlined above so that I’m ready for the next fountain that inspires me on a trip coming soon.
In joy,
Melinda