Digital Train-Photography

While I was in Florence, I roomed with my Romanian alter-ego, Maria C. She was at SACI for photography, so she had an amazing digital camera (a Nikon HR? I'm not all of that familiar with digital cameras but it was a snazzy one). We took a train from Florence to Monterosso, one of the five villages which makes up Cinqueterra. I borrowed her camera on the train took some pictures during the 2 hour journey and came up with two images I especially liked.

Maria on the Train (2008)

Open Window (2008)

I've never seen a human being look as uncomfortable as that man crouching away from the two matching German tourist women. I thought it was interesting that he was watching them look out the window, but not looking out of it himself. He talked on the phone later in a language I didn't recognize, so I think it is safe to assume he was either an immigrant or a tourist. There were so many African-Italian immigrants in Florence, hawking illegal purses on the streets and working in various other low-paying jobs. So many of them earned their living catering to the tourist's experience of Italy, tourists who were seeking the superficial thrill of a cheap David apron in stark contrast to their struggle just to survive. However, I must say that it was really annoying how aggressive they got. I must really look American, because I couldn't walk two feet without a vendor invading my personal space in order to aggressively push their product. Nevertheless, I took this picture after watching the scene for a little bit because I thought it was a moment which really captured the man's feeling of displacement and reflected my own metal picture of the larger social displacement of immigrants throughout Italy.