#3: Italia: Bellissimo Terreno
If Montreal is a muse for my pen, then Italy is the ispirazione divina for my lens.
As photography was rapidly becoming a passion of mine on par with my writing, I ventured across the Atlantic to the country of my ancestors. With my camera in tow, I had the privilege of experimenting with the art form while exploring some of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Roma, Firenze and Siena (not to mention the breathtaking countryside in between) — these three marvels of the Italian landscape were laid before my camera and I took full advantage.
Since returning from Italy I’ve often said that the scenery is so wonderful that one could drop their camera anywhere in the country, have it accidentally snap a shot and they’d still get a great picture. I actually did drop my camera on the first day in the driveway of our Florentine hotel. By the Grace of God it wasn’t damaged.
I took thousands of pictures on that trip. On the plane home, I remember Kristina saying to me that she was slightly disappointed. She remembered how inspired I was when I visited Montreal for the first time. She was saddened that I hadn’t been writing as much after visiting Italy.
I explained to her the depths of the passion I have for photography and how instead of paying homage to the cities I visited with pages of verse I was doing so with thousands of images. I would even suggest that my enduring love for this art form is a direct result of the photographs I took in Italy.
I believe that all of the photos I’ve taken since have in some subconscious way been attempts to recreate the beauty that I found in Italy. It was in Firenze, Siena and Roma that I discovered what I can do with my camera and what emotions/reactions photos can elicit from others.
As well, it was also encountering the work of history’s greatest artists that pushed me forward with this craft. My work, my personal collection and even this blog are arguably all means for me to try to recreate the beauty of the masters I encountered overseas. When I look through my viewfinder I see a block of marble and with my lens I must chisel it as precisely as I am able.
If I had never visited Italy — bellissimo terreno — I would never have been exposed to this invaluable inspiration and I would certainly be a photographer with a very different artistic ideology.
Grazie mille, Italia.
To see a selection of my Italy photos, click here.
This post appears as part of the FOCUS 365 photo blog component of Bastard Type.
Is just a beautiful photo.