My mom visited Italy years ago and came back with enough photos to fill a book. Even though her photos of beautiful architecture, stunning views, and delicious food captivated me, it was her candid shots of Italian locals that fascinated me the most.
Nearly all of my mom’s photos are digitally inaccessible nowadays, but this Portrait of a Wedding Guest managed to survive the test of digital time.
THE STORY
This picture was taken in Florence, Italy on a hot summer’s day in June of 2016. My mom was visiting Italy with my sister, my first cousin, and my grandmother. The four of them were traveling with a large group from my sister’s high school, so it was a pretty odd configuration of people. One day my mom’s group was having lunch at a cafe in a piazza when an even larger group descended upon the square. A bride and groom led the pack, stopping every now and then for photos, hugs, and a quick kiss. My mom whipped out her camera and immediately got to work capturing the happy couple. But as they passed, her attention shifted to the rest of the crowd: an agitated woman yelling at a man as he tried to outpace her, another man quickly lighting a cigarette, and, of course, this extremely fashionable gentleman.
THE SIGNIFICANCE
My mom had already taken a few candid portraits of the locals before she took this particular shot, but this wedding procession was the first time she took a bunch in rapid succession. I think the thrill of finding just the right character while they were in just the right light really captured her sense of artistic excitement. After that day, my mom took at least one portrait of a local every day for the rest of her trip. Her favorite is a shot of an older woman standing in an open doorway, looking down at two children scurrying away to take the dog for a walk. The woman wears an expression of quiet bittersweetness, balancing the joy of seeing the children’s glee and the pang of watching them go. It is a fantastic photo.
LESSONS
I’ve learned a lot about Italy, travel, people, photography, and even life by looking through my mom’s old pictures with her. Let me share just a few of these lessons with you.
Take pictures of everything
If there was one thing my mom wanted me to take away from our conversation together, it was to take pictures of everything. She must have said this twenty times. Take pictures of everything. She took pictures of each of the hotels she stayed in, most of the meals she had, every museum or basilica or cathedral she visited, and every shop she loved. She even took a portrait of each tour guide she had for the duration of her trip.
Now although my mom’s advice is to take pictures of everything, I do think everything is a bit much. Take pictures of the meals, the museums, the views, etc. But write down important information like the hotel you stayed in, the shop with the best gelato, and the name of your tour guide. Not only will this give you more information than a photo would (my mom doesn’t remember the name of her favorite shop in Sorrento, even though she has like ten pictures of it), but it will also save you some storage space.
Don’t forget the people
I can Google stunning pictures of St. Mark’s basilica with no problem. But I can’t Google pictures of my family standing in front of the St. Mark’s basilica. I also can’t Google “that one really cool guy who was standing outside the basilica smoking a cigarette while wearing Ralph Lauren from head to toe.” Don’t forget to photograph the people who make your trip unique and meaningful. When you look back at your pictures years later, it is the pictures of people that will make you stop and tell a story.
Save your photos digitally and physically
Technology is changing so fast, and unless you’re a tech whiz (obviously neither my mom nor I are), I highly recommend transferring your digital photos to a hard copy. My mom used Shutterfly to create a personalized book, but you can also use services like Walgreens or Amazon Print to print out your photos and create a scrapbook by hand. And if you want to make sure your digital copies last as long as possible, I recommend keeping them in several different places in a couple of different formats. A flash drive is probably the most stable way to keep photos for a long time without taking up too much storage. You could also post the pictures to Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest to create your own digital photo gallery. After all, the only reason I have digital access to “Portrait of a Wedding Guest” is because my mom happened to post it on Facebook.
In the end, this “Portrait of a Wedding Guest” is representative of a lot for me. It is my hope that I can capture my own photos that tell stories as rich as this one. If you are traveling now or soon, consider panning down from the stunning landmark to also photograph a person living their authentic life amid the hustle and bustle of tourism. In an age where you can erase people from photos with just a few clicks, try giving people a shot or two of their own.