chasing light through photography
***
Rome is a light that you’d recognize anywhere.
A technicolor sky, reflections on the river and birds flying up above.
It’s the great beauty, flowered balconies, crowded restaurants and open bars.
A traffic mess, cars anywhere, dirty streets, messy public services.
It’s a never-ending vacation, a mellow and joyful decadence.
Rome equals time slowing down.
And finding yourself by the river over and over, catching a different sunset each time.
***
There are days when you’re in one of the places you love the most, at the hour that you prefer and with a camera on hand. People pass you by, friends may speak to you but you’re only half there. Your mind eager with anticipation.
And maybe it’s because you know you won’t get more chances for weeks or months, but you just wait for that moment that could – should – be about to happen as the most precious gift.
And if you’re lucky enough for it to happen while you’re right there waiting on the first row, that the Roman light turns that particular shade of gold and slowly paints the water below, the walls, the leaves – you just feel your heart might burst and you’re at a loss for words. There you remember exactly why you so often bother to carry a camera with you. Because one needs a tool to share the world, its light and shadows, whenever words are just not enough.
Sweet evening friends.
***
« Not all that wander are lost » J.R.R. Tolkien
Venice by night, from above, is a spot in the sea you can barely tell from the sky / it’s a bus crossing a sad plane / pouring rain / sea smell / heart beating faster / eyes stuck to the side window / half-deserted steamboats / a city that appears and disappears / lingering / appealing.
It’s walking on rainy alleys / turning back / going forth / laughing out loud ’cause you’re lost again.
It’s a velvet curtain leading to yellow-earth walls / merry familiar tones that mend your heart / steaming dishes / toasts and joy.
Dozing Venice lets itself be sweetly tasted / silently walked through. It’s the echo of your footsteps / water splashing / the wind on your face / lights sparkling on the other side. It’s a swinging bed / sleep falling over you as if you were a child.
Venice in the early morning is grabbing something to put on and rushing outside. It’s the sea smell / church bells somewhere / wind / clouds rushing by.
It’s your eyes full of wonder / water and sky / sky and water / all around you. It’s walking leisurely / smelling the air / deserted alleys.
It’s crossing a threshold and entering a different dimension / eyes open / lights / shadows / what you feel you don’t need to understand.
Venice is the new and the old / up and down / bridges to cross / water to bless you. It’s an uninterrupted wonder of light and colors.
Venice is this and a thousand things more.
Dear Rome,
the weather was not our friend this time. We had to adjust most of our outdoor plans and cancel a special, long-expected encounter because of the rain. But, one walk in the city center and you’re forgiven. How beautiful you are, my hometown. How much I miss you. You keep a piece of my heart whenever I leave.
Farewell to this summer
***
Walking on country paths I used to know very well.
The kids look so grown up against these secular olive trees.
I tell them all about how beautiful the mimosa tree will be in the spring, covered in yellow fluffy flowers whose scent can be smelled from far away.
Having lunch outside in the middle of winter
strolling down the beach
looking at fishermen and kyte-surfers
collecting seashells
throwing stones into the waves.
I guess my Roman ancestors knew how to pick their locations.
A typical Roman winter day.
Cold but sunny.
Bathing in the brightest light,
under a perfect blue sky.
Nous voilà de retour après nos vacances en Italie. Deux semaines de congé au milieu de l’année pour la première fois depuis des lustres. C’était bien, les amis, oh que oui! Mais, les jours ont passé et le temps de partir, avec son pincement au cœur, est arrivé. Les enfants étaient ravis de retrouver leur maison à Paris, pour moi c’est toujours un peu plus difficile, ça demande quelques jours d’acclimatation…
En regardant l’année qui vient de se clore, je suis reconnaissante:
pour mes deux enfants magnifiques, sains, sensibles et drôles, qui s’épanouissent sous mes yeux jours après jour
de m’être rapprochée encore un peu plus de la personne que j’ai envie d’être et d’avoir appris à m’accorder plus de temps pour moi
d’avoir, dans des moments difficiles, trouvé la sérénité au fond de mon cœur
d’avoir beaucoup plus souvent ressenti de la gratitude pour ce que j’ai plutôt que le regret pour ce que je n’ai pas
d’avoir trouvé le temps et le courage d’accomplir Ce (petit grand) pas sur la lune!
Je n’ai pas de résolutions particulières pour cette nouvelle Année, sinon de continuer à chercher la sérénité, la gratitude, la joie et confiance en ce que j’ai.
Et vous, les amis?
Je vous souhaite une année pleine de joie et de beaux moments à partager,
bon 2015!
And so we’re back from our holidays in Italy. A two week break as I hadn’t done in a long time and it was good, oh so good. The days have flown by and the time to leave, with its bittersweat taste, finally arrived. The kids were happy to find their home back while for me it’s a bit more difficult, it takes me a few days to settle down.
Looking back upon the year that has just come to an end, I am grateful for:
my two beautiful, sweet and smart kids whom I have the chance to see evolving each day
having come a few steps closer to the person I want to be and having learned to grant myself more me-time
having found peace and strenght in my heart in this year’s difficult times
having felt gratitude for what I have rather than regret for what I don’t have
having found the time (and courage) to do this Step on the moon!
I don’t have any special resolutions for 2015 apart from walking further on this path of finding peace, joy, strenght and gratitude in what I have.
And you, dear friends?
I wish you a bright New Year, full of joy and of many tiny happy moments to cherish,
happy 2015!
Les vacances sont finies, je sais. Il serait temps de parler de rentrée d’école, travail, routine. Mais permettez-moi de prolonger encore un peu la douceur des derniers jours d’été avec ces souvenirs de cieux bleus d’Italie et de mer cristalline. De bonne cuisine et enfants qui n’ont pas arrêté de s’entraider et s’amuser ensemble. De nos jeux dans le sable, plongeons, explorations sous-marines à trois et drôles de photos sous-marines. Ah ces vacances de dernière minute. Un moment hors du temps, simplement parfait.
Que votre rentrée soit douce, chers amis.
Holidays are over, I know. One should talk about first days at school, work, routine. But let me indulge just a wee bit more in the sweetness of the last days of summer with these memories of Italian blue skies and crystaline waters. Of exquisite dishes and lovely kids that have never been so close and joyful. Of our games in the sand, diving competitions, underwater explorations together and funny selfies. Oh these last-minute holidays. What a timeless moment. Simply perfect.
I wish you all a sweet beginning of September, friends.
Pour continuer cette petite série sur ma ville natale, ce soir j’ai envie de vous montrer un endroit magique que j’étais moi-même très heureuse de (re)découvrir. Pas très loin de la maison de mes parents, dans une zone qui a été miraculeusement préservée par les coulées de béton, se trouvent des prés, des chevaux, des oliviers, des buissons à mures et un ancien château du moyen age qui pendant longtemps était laissé semi à l’abandon. Enfant, on passait sous les clôtures et on allait jouer ou pic-niquer dans ces pâturages, on s’imaginait explorateurs dans les vieux bâtiments décadents, on jouait à se faire peur avec les serpents d’eau qui se cachaient parfois dans la vieille piscine abandonnée. Adolescente, je parcourais les mêmes chemins pour aller courir et je regrettais beaucoup de voir ce si beau domaine laissé un peu en ruine.
Les années ont passé, je ne suis plus allée si souvent à Rome et de toute façon pour des périodes assez courtes. Mais cette été, ayant deux semaines entières devant moi, tout naturellement j’ai eu envie d’aller visiter cet endroit avec l’espoir secret de le voir revivre. Qu’elle n’a été mon étonnement en découvrant que le domaine avait en effet été remis à neuf par de nouveaux propriétaires et a été transformé un relais cinq étoiles qui semble bien valoir sa réputation. Comble de la surprise, la où avant se baignaient heureuses les grenouilles, il y a maintenant une magnifique piscine entourée par les pins d’autrefois. Chiara et moi nous sommes empressées d’aller la tester et nous y avons passé deux excellentes après-midis sous un ciel bleu cobalt, bercées par le chant des cigales. Comme quoi, si le temps qui passe parfois vous laisse un mauvais goût dans la bouche, parfois il réalise aussi vos rêves d’enfance…
Belle soirée chers amis,
si vous avez l’occasion de faire un jour un tour au Relais della Castelluccia,
passez-lui le bonjour de ma part.
In order to continue this small series about my hometown tonight I want to show you a special place which I was so happy to (re)discover. Near my parents’ place there is a bit of land which has luckily escaped massive construction. There are olive trees, pastures, blackberry bushes, horses and a Medieval castel which used to be half abandoned. When I was a child, we went down these paths with my mother or friends to play and picnic. We would pass under the fences and go exploring or looking for snakes in the abandoned pool. When I was older I used to go jogging there and each time it would make me sad to see such a beautiful place left to crumble.
The years went by and I didn’t go back to Rome that often and for short periods of time only. But this time around, knowing I had two full weeks before me I looked forward to paying a little visit to this place with the secret hope of seing it flourish again. I was not disappointed! A new management has bought the manoir and it looks beautifully tended. We’ve only visited the hall but it was enough to get a glimpse of how sumptuous its interiors must be – for the wealthy clients’ delight. But the surprises were not over: where snakes and frogs used to be, shimmers now a huge flawless pool surrounded by the old trees I know so well. Chiara and I took it very seriously to test it and we’ve had a lot of fun diving and swimming under the perfect blue Roman sky. Well, so nice to see that if the years revolving can make bad jokes on you they can also make your childhood dreams come true.
I wish you all a lovely evening friends.
If one day you have a chance and go visit the « Relais della Castelluccia »,
say I from me.
CRISTINA PORZIO 