Journal Entry
May 30 – 5:46PM
Piazza Colonna – Central Rome, Italy
The Italians have a sense about them. A confidence that manifests itself in many different ways. Sometimes it’s most evident with their fashion, sometimes the food. Other times, it’s best observed by watching them work with a serious dedication to their vocation. The men are fit and strong, and they come at you like freight trains in the street, as if they would walk directly through you if you made the mistake of being in their path. Their presence led me to make a few images of the people of the country I was visiting and photographing. While, to this point, I’ve never considered myself a street portrait photographer – I couldn’t help myself.
Shot almost from the hip, these two men were cutting their way through a small piazza in central Rome. It was evening, around 5:45PM, and I can assume they are on the way home, though their stride and attitude suggested that they were just getting started.