Kat Eye Studio

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Seeing Double

“Seeing Double,” capturing a subject in reflection, was the prompt for the last week in Picture Inspiration. I love capturing reflections in my images, whether in water, glass or metal. I found this image in Milan during our hunt for the tricolore in March. Piazza del Duomo is always a busy place, but on a holiday, it’s incredibly crowded. The puddle gave a fantastic reflection of the Duomo, but only when the space behind it was clear of people. I spent quite a bit of time waiting and watching how the crowd moved to capture this image, a great example of Waiting to Click. Even then, I had to do some creative editing (tilt, black and white) to eliminate some distracting elements outside of my control.

The other “Seeing Double” images I shared this week are of cars. This car in the streets of Ravenna was interesting on its own, but the reflection gives it a sense of place that just sings “Italy.” It reminds me of another reflection-in-car image I took, very early in our time in Italy. For me, that sense of place makes all the difference, since cars aren’t normally one of my favorite subjects.

That’s why it’s surprising that my third “Seeing Double” image is of a car as well. This fantastic black Mercedes from the 1930’s was found in the Museo dell’Automobile, just reopened after extensive remodeling in Torino. We visited last Sunday afternoon on a quest to see vintage Fiats, and were rewarded with many more vintage European cars as well. My favorite cars were from the 1920’s and 1930’s, they had such style! I loved how the reflection continued the pattern of the men in tuxedos from the wall behind into the body of this classic 30’s automobile. 

Have a great weekend! We are off to Florence this weekend, riding the Freccia Rossa (“Red Wind” – the high speed train between Milan and Rome) for one last visit. Be sure to come by on Monday – I have something new and exciting to share with you!

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Back Alley Bliss

Oh, scooters. How I love thee. Wandering the back alleys of an old city, finding a vintage scooter amongst the texture and filtered light has become heaven to me. Do I see scooters because I love to photograph them, or do I love to photograph scooters because I see them? That is the question. Much simpler than Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” and, to be honest, I really don’t require an answer. I’m happy to both see them and photograph them, regardless of the priority order.

This lovely find was in Ortygia, the old quarter of the town of Siracusa in Sicily. We got lost in the back alleys trying to find the duomo, and it was scooter heaven for me this day. I’ll have several to share over time.

I’ve learned that is my favorite thing to do when traveling… wander. Just wander the back streets and alleys, away from the shopping zones. I don’t need long, just an hour or two. I can guarantee I’ll find interesting things to photograph when we just wander.

How about you? Where are you guaranteed to find creative inspiration?

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The View from the Top

Last week, when looking for a photo with words on it to link in to a Shutter Sisters prompt, I realized that I never posted this. I showed the image before the words some time ago, but in some ways the words transform this photo. They are a reflection of the emotion of my son in silhouette. On top of the world!

I’m off on vacation this week, but I wanted to share this image as another way to Capture the Sky. Creating a blank space in your photos with a clear sky is a great way to “reserve” the space for later use, like the addition of the quote. It’s also interesting to see the tones you can get from the sky when an image is converted to black and white. The sky did not appear this dark in the color version, but it provides a perfect place for white text.

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Artists and Art

From Seth Godin‘s blog yesterday:

Art is what we call…

the thing an artist does.

It’s not the medium or the oil or the price or whether it hangs on a wall or you eat it. What matters, what makes it art, is that the person who made it overcame the resistance, ignored the voice of doubt and made something worth making. Something risky. Something human.

Art is not in the eye of the beholder. It’s in the soul of the artist.

I loved his words so much I wanted to share them here with you today.

Today’s photo is from Barcelona. Can you guess what this is?

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What’s the Story?

This image caught my eye on the train traveling from Lisbon to Cascais, along the coast of Portugal. Originally, all I saw was the heart, just barely visible in the window from where I was sitting. Then the sun came out from behind the clouds and the message was broadcast inside the car. It’s double graffiti, two surfaces for the painting of one!

I enjoyed all of the comments on yesterday’s blog post Ti Amo. So many different perspectives were shared. If you have some time, take a quick read here to enjoy them too.

I thought today it might be fun to spark your imagination, and ask you to make up stories to go along with this love graffiti. What story do you see in this image? I can’t wait to hear!

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Ti Amo

Ti amo means “I love you” in Italian. Where there is graffiti in Italy, you often find this phrase mixed in. What is it about love that makes people want to declare it to the world in this fashion? It’s as if it somehow makes it more permanent, less subject to the whims of life and human nature, if it is written down. Not just written down on a piece of paper either, but on a permanent structure, something that will be around a while.

I have to admit that my personal suspicion is that many of the romances with declarations of love in graffiti don’t last. Call me unromantic, but grand declarations of love in spray paint are not what makes a relationship. To me, love is trust and honesty and acceptance, not words on a wall. It is support day in and day out, not flowers or candy on a specific day that calls for it.

While I love to capture these little message of love I find left about, I also wonder about the stories behind them. What brought someone to this point, and what happens after the ink dries and fades away? I hope the couples have found something more lasting than ink on a wall. I truly do.