The last chapter in my trip to Europe, Milan, nearly got skipped in favour of heading up near Lake Como. With all the travel before getting to Milan, the need to slow my roll superseded another destination so I parked it in Milan for a few days and explored the city. Coming from Florence, Milan has a distinctly different feel. It feels lived in rather than the open air museum quality Florence had. While not as traditionally “picturesque” as Florence, Milan’s got its fair share of beautiful architecture and from what i experienced, it certainly is a bit rougher around the edges. For some reason, I always end up gravitating towards areas with a bit of grit as most of the good stuff is always found in the areas that are a bit unpolished. Diamonds are overrated, anyways.

After Florence, I was in full on street photography mode and with the dreary weather Milan was giving me, I leaned into it. Rain always means reflections and an extra bit of dynamism in images, so having those types of days isn’t a bummer and provides for some interesting frames here and there. It also helped out in giving me perhaps a different way of shooting places that have literally been shot a million times before. There’s nothing new under the sun, but it’s a fun challenge shooting famous spots while trying to give it my own spin or capturing it in a different way than what’s normally portrayed. Whats the point in shooting a famous place in the exact same way it’s been done countless times before? I’d just get another frame in a sea of the same…. Forgettable and ultimately a snoozefest. The more and more I travel to places that are famous for something, the less and less I care about getting “that shot.” I’m sure someone has shot that iconic image about a bajillion times and it’s far more interesting to me visually to try and do something different.

Everything shot on the Fuji x100v and tweaked in Capture One.