Here is a building, in Brescia, proudly proclaiming its age. A weathered door, the missing stucco. All of it unapologetically saying here I am, take me or leave me! I hope that I weather age so well. 🙂
Portals to Another World
Strange to go from such vibrant color recently to black and white, but this is where I go today. I like the idea of portals to another place. Doors and gates that are a threshold to something different. I often think about this view as I walk over to Parco di Monza and see this gate and the view through it. A portal to a place of peace and nature amidst the busy, crowded surroundings of Italian city life. Everything just feels different on the other side. Keep your eye out for these portals, you encounter them here or there, and they are special places.
Color is like Music
“Color is like music, it uses [a] shorter way to come to our senses, to awake[n] our emotions.” I quite can’t read the name of the quote’s author in this photo, but I loved the quote and the color of this house in Burano. I’m sure every tourist that walks by it takes a photo of this. It captures your eye.
But, fun picture aside, I agree with the quote. I have been toying with this idea that there is a “soul language” that each of us has, a language that is a shortcuts our brain circuitry to our heart and soul. It gets past all of our outer layers of shoulds and shouldn’ts, our learned responses and expectations from our family, our friends, our culture, whatever. To a place where your response is truly you.
My soul language is visual imagery. Whether it be color, composition, light… It’s one of the reasons I love photography and painting and any other type of visual art. It speaks to me.
A while ago, I was reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and feeling guilty. She loves the Italian language just for it’s sound. Came to Italy to live and learn and experience the language (ok, and the food). There are lots of people who do this, so my brain was asking me, “Why aren’t you so excited about learning Italian? Here you are in Italy for two years, every opportunity to immerse yourself, but you aren’t taking advantage of it!” Complete guilt mode. Then I realized – that’s not my soul language. Elizabeth Gilbert is a writer, words and language are probably her soul language, not mine.
I can immerse myself in the art and visual beauty of Italy and get just as much out of the experience, because it’s my soul language. What’s yours?
Finding the Quiet Places
Sometimes in our wandering, down a back alley, I spot something interesting. Some little scene, some spot of color. Something unexpected. I love this photo of a back alley in Burano. It’s not the color, which is all over Burano. It’s the not the architecture either. I think it’s the “looking in” from the outside aspect. Looking through the doorway, looking into the back alley you find this illuminated spot of color, this little peaceful courtyard. You could easily walk on by and miss it. It’s almost like it’s a secret, something the residents want all of us tourists to miss. A quiet spot of their own.
When we travel, we like to wander. Brandon loves to turn us down side streets and see where we end up. I love the things we sometimes find, especially the quiet places.
Unique Vision
From photographer Rodney Smith’s blog, The End Starts Here: “If you were to stand right beside me and use the same camera, you would not take this same picture. It probably would look quite different. This is what makes each person’s photographs unique. It is your take on the world, and is special only to you. This gift is not something to be taken lightly or ignored.
It is why I know more about you when I look at your pictures than I know about the subject. I can look deep into your being, know your vulnerabilities, whether you wish to acknowledge them or not. I can feel your perspective, your orientation, and your feelings. Isn’t it funny how life sometimes feels backwards? I look at your pictures and I see you in them, with a greater clarity than I see your subject.”
What a powerful statement on photography. This just completely resonated with me when I read it this morning. I think this captures in an essence why I love photography, and why I feel compelled to share. It’s like sharing about me. Sometimes when I look at my photos after coming home, I’m amazed by one or two. I think, “Wow, I really saw that? I didn’t even know that was what I was taking a picture of!” But somewhere deep inside me, the real me, saw and acted on it.
And when I combine one of those “wow” photos with a thought on this blog, I’m often amazed at what comes out! Pieces of me that I didn’t even know were in there.
So I share one of those photos today, one of those that I said “wow” when I started going through my images later. I was coming up the steps at the old castello in San Vigilio, above the high city of Bergamo, about to exit onto the roof for a view. My own unique vision. Truly the “Kat Eye View” of the World!
Waiting
One of the things I loved about the Paris museums is that they actually allow you to take pictures, unlike the Italian ones. Usually I don’t want to take pictures of specific art, but want to capture how it is presented. I loved this look down a wing of the Louvre. Not one of the famous works of art was here, as evidenced by the lack of people. Just the docent, sitting quietly, and the art iself, waiting for someone to happen by. For some reason this just makes me smile.