By Federica Acclavio
When I visit a new place or attend a cultural event, I look around, unsure of what to photograph, and I am assailed by indecision about how to do it, as if I were waiting for someone’s instructions, the perfect moment, the right light. Instead, it is simply a matter of waiting, being patient and gaining confidence in oneself. Andreu Doz’s masterclass conveyed these feelings to me. No one is born with a camera in their hand, and indeed, the first words you learn are not exposure, focus, and composition; you know something when you are genuinely interested in it.
I have always loved photography; it is the only tool that allows you to freeze a moment forever, endless and timeless, as perfect in its imperfection, unexpected, and uncompromising.
Recently, in Ancona, the capital of the Marche region in Italy, the UlisseFest, a travel festival organised by the Lonely Planet publishing house, came to a close. Every year, the festival offers an opportunity to look beyond our geographical borders, to reflect on the world and connect with everything that exists beyond our everyday horizon.
At UlisseFest, you can listen to stories, discuss current events, reflect on our impact on the world, dance, sing, laugh, cycle, walk, write, draw, and learn. Writers, travellers, journalists, explorers, artists, athletes, actors, and musicians take turns on the UlisseFest stage, while the spaces host meetings, laboratories, workshops, concerts, shows, and readings. A small piece of the world, as varied as the world itself, to be experienced from dawn to dusk for three days.
For two years, I have been telling myself that I want to participate, but I have not done so for two consecutive years. I decided at the last minute not to go, despite having informed myself about the three-day programme and the guests.
What would I have photographed? To overcome my initial shyness, I found solace in the panoramic view of the landscape, the context in which I would find myself, and the key points for getting to know Ancona, a seaport and a meeting point for people from faraway places.
I would then have continued with the people to capture the enthusiasm of shared passion. I would have photographed hands at work, because without them, we could not create anything. I would have photographed the play of light at different times of the day. And then I don’t know what else, I would have let myself be carried away by the spontaneity of events.
A sequence of images to tell the story of how we are all different, our unique qualities, what we have in common and what sets us apart, travel as a meeting point, a destination or a departure point. The story of a place where the world has come to visit, the same world that still amazes us even though we mistreat it, the same world that kindly asks us: Are you ready to leave?
This article is part of the practical work carried out by the students of the Master’s in Travel Journalism.
