Last December I went to Rome for the second time in my life, for a gig with Uniqlo.
It was an interesting one to say the least- I wear Uniqlo clothes and take photos of Rome from the perspective of a Japanese photographer. But wait, who’s taking photos of me if I’m wearing the clothes? And my photos are very abstract, so how will the documentation of Rome fall into place? Although the trip has ended, these questions still remain open-ended to this day…
Apparently there might be a Zine and an exhibition done with the photos taken. That’ll be awesome, but I’ll probably have no control over the edit, so I myself will wait anxiously for the results. Ah, the life of a young photographer in the age of social media. But yes I will simply sit in my seat and soak in these unique experiences with my mouth shut, camera sensor exposed.
The first time I visited Rome I learned that I needed to change my approach. I went only with my Ricoh GR3x during the blazing summer heat in July, and it was… hard. The sheer number of tourists were overwhelming, and since I was there on a business trip, my head wasn’t in the right space to wander and take photos nonchalantly. I also felt as if, the GR3x couldn’t keep up with the beauty of the environment. I felt like I needed longer lens options with bigger sensors and wider apertures. After all, Rome is a beautiful sculpture in itself. A cropped sensor with a 27mm lens (equivalent to a 40mm) with a 2.8, imo, didn’t do the place justice and I needed more options.
This second trip, I had about 9 days to ROAM around, which was plentiful. Honestly, this may have been the longest dedicated photographic trip I’ve been on. Which… kinda makes me sad and this needs some fixing in the future. 2023 wasn’t also the most intense of years in terms of my photographic journey. Lots of other work. So 9 full days of photography, was extremely exciting but somewhat intimidating at the same time. But nevertheless, to me, it was enough to fully experience the place and take it in. And I was even able to maximize from my previous learnings. I went with the combo of the SL2S with the Leica 24-70mm F2.8, and that was the only thing I brought other than my phone.
This felt like the right choice. I never felt like I “missed” a shot for any circumstance or reason, and I had plenty of variety of shots for the assignment too. It was heavy and all, but hey just do a few pushups right.
My initial game plan was actually to take black and white photos— but the color freak in my ended up taking over, and I somehow found my own voice in Roman color during my stay.
I was taken aback by the hospitality in Rome. Meeting new friends, old friends that I only knew online, people involved in the project. Everyone was warm, welcoming, and passionate.
Oh yeah, and the pasta was fucking great.
Hope you enjoy some of the shots. Let me know if you have any questions.
Love,
Beautiful photos!!