Tag Archives: Florence

Black and White, Cameras, Color, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Portraits, Street, Travel

Ordinary Objects, Italian Edition

December 17, 2015 dcphotoartist 3 Comments

As you may well know if you’ve followed my blog for some length of time, I like taking portraits of ordinary objects- things we see in daily life and ignore and/or take for granted, like pay phones, water fountains, traffic cones, and trash cans. I’ve photographed them in Paris, Toronto, New York, Washington DC and now Rome and Florence. They all have a common denominator of their base functionality. I think though that the Italian ones seem to have just a bit more flair and style to them – take a look and see what you think.

This fire hose connector is probably the newest thing I’ve photographed in this series – the copper connecting pipe has only just begun to oxidize!

In contrast, this trash can in Florence with cigarette butt receptacle is quite well-used, but still has style.

… as does this Roman bin across from the Capitoline hill.

The poor mailbox in Trastevere has been graffiti’d and stickered and it still soldiers on.

Don’t you wish all payphones were this glamorous (and as easy to find)? Here in DC when I went to find a payphone to photograph, it took me several days of looking before I ran into one. I saw this one on my first day in Florence.

I’ll include this because it has a very utilitarian purpose – it’s a street lamp. Granted, a 15th century street lamp attached to a palace, but a street lamp nonetheless.

A public drinking fountain. These were ubiquitous across Rome, in very much the same form, some in better and some in worse condition. But they worked, and the water was sweet and clean, always flowing, and free.

A lowly door handle – this one in particular is attached to a palace, but there were plenty to be found of similar quality on middle-class residences in both Rome and Florence.

And last but not least, a traffic cone. Well, in this case, a red granite bollard some four feet high and three-ish in diameter, in the entrance courtyard to the Palazzo Barberini.

Architecture, Black and White, Cameras, Color, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Travel

Italian Fountains

December 6, 2015 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

This is somewhat of a recap of some earlier images, but they’ve been a running theme in my Italian work so I thought I’d pull together a collection of my photos of fountains from Rome and Florence.

Fountain, Capitoline Steps, In the Wind and Rain

Figure, Neptune Fountain, Piazza della Signoria

Acqua Potabile, Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome — Acqua Potabile, Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome

Drinking Fountain, Ponte Vecchio, Florence

Drinking Fountain, Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome — Drinking Fountain, Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome

Cellini Fountain, Ponte Vecchio, Florence

Trumpeting Merman, Fountain, Piazza Navona

Horse, Four Rivers Fountain, Piazza Navona

River God, Four Rivers Fountain, Piazza Navona

Lion Head Fountain, San Lorenzo, Florence

Architecture, Black and White, Cameras, Color, Medium Format Cameras, Panoramics, Photography, Travel

The Palazzo Pitti, Revisited

December 2, 2015 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

Here are a few more individual photos of the Palazzo Pitti.

The first one is another version of the rear view of the Palazzo, from the Boboli Gardens. There’s a vast difference in quality between this one and the one I took with the Belair X6-12. The Belair has its charms, but I still prefer the sharpness and contrast of the Rollei version.

Here is the panoramic version from the Belair for direct comparison.

Out front of the palace there are these massive granite bollards, carved with the Medici coat of arms. While they’re kinda-sorta the equivalent of a traffic cone, they don’t really qualify for my “portraits of ordinary objects” series, do you think?

Granite Bollard, Medici Coat of Arms, Palazzo Pitti

A marble bust of a man in a stylized Greek helmet. This would be a 16th or 17th century piece, so the ancient Greek style helmet would have been done to make him appear heroic and classical, an idealized noble warrior type.

Architecture, Black and White, Cameras, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Travel

Courtyard, Medici-Riccardi Palace

December 1, 2015 dcphotoartist 1 Comment

A view of the courtyard in the Medici-Riccardi Palace in Florence. The courtyard was designed by Michelozzo the 15th century artist and architect for Cosimo the Elder, and is the first Renaissance building in Florence. Originally there was a street-side loggia that was later filled in, and two “kneeling” windows were added according to designs by Michelangelo.

The statue in the courtyard is Orpheus, by the sculptor Baccio Bandinelli. This palace was the primary residence not only of Cosimo the Elder but Lorenzo Il Magnifico. When you tour the palace you can even visit one of the bedrooms although it is furnished in 17th century style.

Architecture, Black and White, Cameras, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Travel

Lion Head, Medici Coat of Arms, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence

December 1, 2015 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

This lion’s head and the Medici coat of arms (six gold balls) adorn the pedestal to a statue in the courtyard of the Medici-Riccardi palace in Florence. I’m very glad that day was gray and overcast or this would have been too contrasty to photograph- the left half of the pedestal would have been deep inky black and utterly devoid of detail.

Lion's Head, Medici-Riccardi Palace — Lion’s Head, Medici-Riccardi Palace

Black and White, Cameras, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Street, Travel

Gelateria, Twilight, In The Rain, Florence

December 1, 2015 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

Another rain photo, this time in the evening. I’m amused by the man in the dress trench coat and sneakers sheltering under the gelateria awning.

Black and White, Cameras, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Taking Photographs, Travel

Figure, Neptune Fountain, Piazza della Signoria, Florence

December 1, 2015 dcphotoartist 1 Comment

Sometimes I think photographers are allergic to rain – as soon as two drops come out of the sky they hide their cameras and run for cover. But there are many beautiful images to be made in foul weather.

There’s something special and different, and even a tad ironic, about photographing a fountain in the rain. The statues are wet but in a very different way than they look from the normal spray of the fountain. And I think that doing it in black and white adds something more to it- this wouldn’t be as successful an image if it were in color.

Black and White, Cameras, Color, Events, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Street, Taking Photographs, Travel

Here a Photographer, There a Photographer…

November 30, 2015 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

These are two of the wedding photographers I saw in action on my trip – I saw at least two more that I didn’t capture. All were Chinese – I guess it’s a thing now for Chinese couples to come to famous landmarks ( I saw this in Paris as well when I was there ) to get their wedding photos done. I don’t know if they were actually having their weddings in Rome and Florence, or just getting their pictures taken. I’d have loved to have asked, but the photographers were busy working and I’m not going to interrupt them.

I’m not at all surprised by the first location- the steps of Santa Maria in Aracoeli are a very popular destination spot for wedding couples. They were lucky that it was a quiet day – in peak season the steps are very popular with tourists, including pilgrims climbing them on their knees hoping for divine intercession to heal illness or get pregnant, although not so much these days. There are 124 steps (122 if you start on the right-hand side).

Wedding, Steps of Santa Maria in Aracoeli

In Florence, this was the scene on the Ponte Vecchio, next to the Cellini monument. I know photographers will go to some lengths to get the shot, but this is really taking it to another level. I also observed a much more conventional photo-taking outside the Duomo early in the morning on another day.

Cameras, Color, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Portraits, Travel

Fire Hose Connector – Ordinary Object Portrait

November 25, 2015 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

Another in my series of portraits of ordinary objects. Most of my ordinary objects portraits depict well-used, sort of unloved objects, but this is a brand-new (or at least nearly new) fire hose connector inside the Fortezza Basso complex in Florence.

Cameras, Color, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Street, Travel

The Boy at the Burger King, Florence

November 25, 2015 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

This began life as an attempt at improving my street photography skills. What happened was I created an accidental narrative when I caught the other boy walking into the frame.

Who are they? Are they friends, meeting outside the Burger King? Lovers? Total strangers who just happen to be put together by my camera? A mugger and his soon-to-be victim? I think I know the truth of the matter, but that’s A: boring and B: closed off from the many possible stories in the scene. And the best I can do is think I know the truth, and in the end, the truth of the scene doesn’t really matter.

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