Tourists taking a picture in front of the Santa Croce.

Florence, or as the locals call it Firenze, is a beautiful city that is filled to the brim with culture, history, and art. You can walk the streets and find a new discovery around every corner. Living here is a great opportunity for exploration of everything the city has to offer. Just one week ago, I discovered I’m only two blocks away from the Santa Croce, which is a beautiful church built around the same period as the Duomo. I was astonished to learn that both Galileo and Michelangelo were buried in this church. It’s pretty amazing what one can find in this city.

Shop keeper sweeping within the Santa Croce square.

While here in Firenze, I’m taking some very intriguing classes including Color Photography. The name is pretty straight forward when looking to discover what the class is about. Our primary focus is to observe and incorporate color within photography. The first assignment we worked on had us trying to look at Firenze through a different scope. We were asked to look “behind the scenes” of the city, or as my professor put it, “beyond the postcard.” Doing so allowed us to observe beyond what a tourist would typically see.

Building wall glowing in the setting sun.

There were a couple different observations I made when trying to look from this perspective. First, I found that the streets were the cleanest I’ve ever seen within any city, which I know is an odd observation, but it was surprising to me. I also discovered how the tourists stood out so much more when I stepped back from being one. But I think the biggest thing that stood out to me was how the colors of the city came alive throughout the day. It was strange to see how drastically different the walls of a building would change as the sun progressed across the sky. The shutters, which in the morning looked to be a drab green, were actually a bright green seen in the early afternoon. The walls, thought to be a beige in the morning, were actually a bright yellow and bordering on orange in the later afternoon. The color change can be amazing to watch.

I’m hoping that I’ll continue to see these kinds of changes throughout my time here as well as make new discoveries within this perspective and within the city of Firenze.