Places: Rome, Part 1
Taking the 'curious visitor' view while walking around the famous Italian city
When visiting a new place, especially a large city, I toggle between “tourist” and “curious visitor.”
As a “tourist,” I have a pre-trip checklist of attractions and sites, an inverted pyramid that starts with the “must sees” and slowly descends to the “hope to see if we have time, energy, and resources.” As a “curious visitor,” I wander around without a defined agenda, allowing myself to soak up the sites, smells, sounds, and general atmosphere.
From a photography standpoint, I often find my “curious visitor” images are my favorites, in part because they are the random things and moments that catch my eye, whereas the “tourist” photos have a more workmanlike quality to them. As a tourist, I try to capture a point of view that is slightly different from the typical photo of a well-trodden place, but sometimes that’s all you can get.
We spent three days in Rome during our trip to Italy in May. Unlike our stops in Amalfi and Naples, we knew this would be the most touristy part of the trip, with long stretches spent checking off the “must see” places — Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, the Colloseum. I will get to those sites in future “Visual Stories,” but this series of images takes the “curious visitor” view — the things captured while walking around day and night.
One thing I noticed about this set is how much the narrow alleyways and streets lent themselves to high contrast black and white, something I’d like to explore more in the future. Do you like those images, or do other photos catch your eye? Let me know what you think.
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