Thursday 7 November 2013

on the way to Florence

onthewayto1









onthewayto2









onthewayto3









onthewayto4









onthewayto5









onthewayto6









onthewayto7









onthewayto8









onthewayto9









onthewayto10









onthewayto11









onthewayto13









onthewayto12













17 comments:

  1. i took these photos from the car window, on the way from Ravenna to Florence... then walking on foot along the Arno river, until the center (starting with the 7th one).

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  2. and of course you included photos of the bridge. ;-p

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  3. Just the best. I really want to go there now.

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    1. it is magnificent. too bad i only had one day there :-(

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  4. There is great tranquility on the bridge, under the bridge; the tenth is timeless-or at least 1970's-ish-which may amount to the same thing.

    The first is a road cut into a dream. So much stillness in your hands or eyes in summer.

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    1. this is very beautiful, what you said: "a road cut into a dream" - this is how this journey felt like, indeed. my recollection here tries to put some pieces of this dream together, but they never seem to fit quite into the dream, as i experienced it back then. maybe it is always the same story, when it comes to memory, even when photography is supposed to be quite a faithful diary...

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  5. was kann man sagen?! die bilder sind so wunderbar geschaffen. das schwarzweiss bewirkt ein denken in die "alte zeit". hier herrscht wahre natur oder reine natürlichkeit... dort gewesen zu sein, war sicher ein traum und du hast den traum festgehalten, auch im herzen, so scheint es mir... die erste "bridge" gefällt mir ausserordentlich gut. zuerst dachte ich, da schwebt ein grosser vogel, sehr beeindruckend...!ein fest der schönen kunst! alles liebste dir! renée

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    1. ich danke dir, liebste Freundin... ja, das war eine besondere Reise, und ich fuehlte mich gluecklich und es gab so viel Freude in meinem jedem Blick. ich war wie ein Kind, das alles neu entdeckt. ich weiss nicht, wie viel aus diesen Gefuehlen hier in den Bildern ausgedrueckt werden kann, aber wenn jemand so sensibel ist wie du, dann bestimmt doch viel :-)
      den schoensten Tag dir, Wolkenprinzessin! :-)

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  6. All i could think looking at these was Pier Paolo Pasolini. i'm sure you were thinking the same thing, dearest.

    The first two shots are magical. (And she no doubt did ask herself whether Pasolini had ever traveled that same road, scouting for locations--it's uncanny how we think alike). Then in a moment of terror the long shadow of Visconti crossed the Florentine landscape. Ah yes—it was Visconti on that road all the long. It was all clear now. She could channel the energy, and suddenly it made her chuckle. The feeling was definitely Fellini now, and everything fell into place, till, with a tremor and sensing the darkening abyss of existential angst, she summoned Antonioni.

    Exhausted, she fell asleep in the car and, as extemporaneously as an Italian breeze sweeping through a row of poplars, she inexplicably ended up in a ditch by the side of the road. Thank goodness she still had her camera. Lost in Florence. With no way to get back to civilization. Then, by some extraordinary chance, a fellow by the name of Rossellini drove by and gave her a lift back to the hostel.

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    1. ah how i wish my photos really did live up to this cinematic piece of hermeneutics!!! :-) if i read this much longer, i will end up really imagining all this happened, and i really travelled in the shadow of those titans (i have just read a piece by Orwell with advice on writing, and one of the points he made was: avoid any cliche metaphors, like, indeed "in the shadow of those titans", but what the hell, we have outlived 1984 :-).

      that was indeed one of the most wondrous roads i have ever taken!

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  7. beautiful.
    the first three in its rythmic beauty leading to an italian aria.and the aria comes in the final images in their solitary beauty of absence of colour.
    sending you melodious kisses.

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    1. yes, one should imagine one's favourite music going with these photos, i agree :-)

      smiling, and thank you for being here, as always, dear Madeleine.

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  8. zilele acestea m-a obsedat mult ideea de drum,o sa postez unul si pe sparancene,simgurul care a ramas neatins dintr-un iso pe care nu l-am setat bine:) un drum care pana la urma se va dovedi a fi rectiliniu si care duce spre paradisuri,ca aici,in aceasta dintre lumile tale.
    si,la fel,oglindirile,ca ceea ce ar putea da zeii mai bun,ca ceea ce ar putea face un om mai mult si mai bine,dupa cum se vede...:)

    e straniu,fiindca simt cum,privind tot mai adanc in fiecare dintre aceste imagini,ea pare sa devina o statuie a frumusetii,pare sa nu se mai clinteasca niciodata din timp,pare sa imortalizeze toata zbaterea unui crin...

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    1. care "ea", nu imi dau seama la care "ea" te referi? :-)

      astept DRUMUL, atunci, da, il astept...

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  9. Hi Roxana... it's been so long, I've been resting from Blogger... When were you in Florence ? Were you able to visit any of the lovely cemeteries there ? These images in b&w are beautiful... So nice to drop in and see what you have been doing...

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    1. Owen!!! what a surprise! i miss you on blogger, indeed, but i understand you are much happier somewhere else, these days? :-) i was there this summer, but unfortunately in florence only for one day, so i could only see the center and the Uffizi...

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