Every picture is a memory. Every time we press the shutter on the camera we are freezing a moment of history so we can preserve it forever. It sounds monumentous doesn't it, but it's not: Facebook will certainly tell you otherwise. I log on each day to see the myriad of photos that my so-called 'friends' vomit onto my homepage. Not only do people upload a sequence of the same picture - I have two of them so why not use them - but the other people in the picture will also post their versions of it. The result? Monster albums clogging up the internet providing the CIA with plenty of material should anyone need blackmailing in the future...


It is an age-old question, though. How do we make our holiday photos interesting to the general public? How do we step away from the necessity to have 'been there' to really appreciate someone else's pictures? And, while we're at it, how can we remove this insane fashion for de-tagging and portraying this hideously false image on Facebook? There is no hard and fast solution - no tried and tested method to solve this, but I think I may have hit upon a compromise.


May I invite you to read on...

Thursday, 16 February 2012

Who Put Balls on the Postumia?

Christmas had arrived in Verona. It's a little different to the UK because Christmas arrives over here about the 30th September: stores are decorated in October and remain so until after the January sales have finished. Italy is a lot more restrained when it comes to putting up Christmas decorations - well actually it depends where you go.

Verona went all out, but waited a little while before doing so. It was late November before we saw any signs of Christmas arriving in the city. The signs that we saw were the beginnings of a Christmas market in the piazza where Dante resides looking disapporivingly at whatever is below: he spent most of December giving condescending looks to the Christmas tree sponsored by confectioners Bauli from his majestic plinth.

Anyway the reason we discovered this happy news that Christmas had arrived in Verona was because we were on a tour of Roman Verona that happened to take us directly through the piazza. No doubt we'd have found it in good time ourselves, but still, it was a nice addition to our little tour of all the things the Romans did in the city.

Our tour had started on the Postumian Way, the road originally built by the Romans. We met at the Arco dei Gavi which was the gate to the outer ring of the city (for those of you that know Verona, it has been moved because it wouldn't make too much sense to have the gate facing the river...). Anyway but a few days later, the Postumian Way was laced with fairy lights and sparlking blue balls.

It was funny to see Roman Verona together with commerical Verona in perfect, if a litle incongruous, harmony. I felt I had to jump.

Jumping on the Postumia
Verona, Italy, 2009

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