By Ryanne Doherty
We all take photos. It’s a part of living in the digital age; everyone keeps a camera right in his or her pocket, and we can capture and share memories in an instant. As convenient as this is, there is a drawback.
Seeing the world through a camera lens can take away from fully experiencing a moment. It causes a person to merely see an image inside a cropped area. By focusing only on the visual, the sounds of a city, the smells of bakeries, and the feel of the air on one’s face are often overlooked.
I am just as guilty of this practice as anyone else. I will walk around Florence’s city center and take a picture of the Duomo or Santa Croce and ignore all other surroundings. For a Writing for Digital Media class assignment, I was actually required to get lost in the city and look only for the visual aspects of Florence. Through this, I was able to see in more detail but unable to fully feel the atmosphere around me.
For an hour, I explored new parts of Florence, but it’s hard to describe where I was. Taking pictures on my old Canon was my only focus and goal. This goal, I believe, caused me to miss out on a full Florentine experience as a new resident of the city.
The following day, however, my focus changed. With my class, I had the opportunity to experience the Arno River with the I Renaioli association. I took a few photos, but for the most part I tried to concentrate on more than just what I could see.
It was a sweltering day in September, and I had already broken out into a sweat on the walk to the riverbank. After a couple minutes on the water, however, a cool breeze shielded the hot sun, and I cooled down significantly. This was a breeze as I had never felt in the city center. Here, I realized the one of the coolest places in Florence at any time may in fact be the surface of the Arno, and I regretted not having taken this excursion earlier.
Paolo, the association representative who rowed the small wooden boat named the Ghibellino, recounted the Florentine history that surrounds the Arno. Some of the history was familiar to me, like the path of the Vasari Corridor through the Ponte Vecchio. Some information was new, like the history and utility of Palazzo Corsini, which is best seen from the Arno. Paolo’s voice was punctuated by the trickle of water as the oar cut through the river or his occasional whistles to rowers ahead of us as we made our way under bridges.
We docked again after an hour or so on the boat, and it was then that I decided I should step away from the camera from time to time. In the week that has passed since then, I have found myself trying to focus on the entire atmosphere of where I am – while it’s nice to have the photos, it is the desire for a new experience that drives us to have an adventure.
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