The good thing about photography, at least for me, is that it allow me to cool off from the daily stress of working on videogame projects that are requiring a lot of attention, dedication, fiber and will to fight.
Usually I leave Milan and I take a train towards Venice, a magical and enigmatic city which for me it’s so ripe of street photography opportunities that makes the life of an average photographer like me very, very easy.
In those days it’s not possible. In those days the only thing you can do is take the best out of the place where you live, as the lockdown it’s not allowing citizens to leave the city.
So, as usually, I take my gear and go in Paolo Sarpi, which is one of my favorite places in Milan where to take photos. Paolo Sarpi its our little Chinatown, which in normal times it’s full of people walking up and down the Main Street, full of shops of any sort.
As I keep saying, street photography for me it’s like fishing; you need to know what your are doing, you need to learn how to observe and you have to be, above everything, prepared (and lucky, let’s face it).
Arrived in Paolo Sarpi the first thing i see is a peculiar scene where a genius decided to park a Mercedes on the rails of the Tram (in San Francisco those are called Trolleys or Streetscars).
Policemen’s giving a ticket for abusive parking
Walking down the street, I found a couple screaming at each other: the man inside an house at the first floor of a building, and a woman down on the sidewalk. They were speaking in Chinese so I’m not sure about what they were really saying at each other but I guess that the woman was screaming at her husband that she wanted to go back in the house but forgot her key, so the man throw them at her. Fortunately, I was ready with my camera so I’ve being able to freeze their gesture and the keys in mid air. It was fun.
An husband throw the house key to his wife
That’s the beauty I see in street photography, more than in any other photography field: you get to observe others people life, their dreams, their taste, behaviors, attitude. If you remove any judgement layer and you focus your attention to the simple observation of what it’s going on around you, with empathy and an open mind, then you are bound to a lot of “travels” even if there’s a lockdown going on.
