For roughly the last two weeks or so, I have been spending my days in Rome, Italy. Cornell has a fabulously designed program that allows its art and architecture students to study on their campus in the heart of central Rome, among surviving antiquities, boisterous cafés, and, of course, museums. Exploring the city has been quite an experience, with hidden beauty tucked behind every street corner.
A nearby church at night.
The people that I've met here so far have been wonderful as well. Everyone from my intriguing Italian teacher who told us about the nuances of Roman culture, to the barista at the local café who is an immigrant from Ukraine with an affinity for boxing, have all been a pleasure to get to know.
This past Saturday, we took a field trip around Rome to take a look at a few landmarks in the city. It was exhausting. The group walked a total of 11 miles that day, but in the end it was nothing short of amazing to get to see the different aspects of Rome that we may not have otherwise.
Archbasilica of St. John Lateran
Overlooking the piazza near the Rome city entrance.
Since I won't be getting much, if any, client work in for the next few months I really hope to expand my artistic practice with other types of photography in Italy. I plan to work with my professor to develop some videos and photo series revolving around European conflicts and social structures. In the meantime, I still have so much to learn about how this city works and how to take full advantage of the opportunities and resources available to me here. Stick around for some further updates on my projects this semester, and follow my Instagram @julialuisacole for some more quick shots of my adventures!
All images in this blog post were shot with an iPhone 6