Chat with Chiara: A Love Affair with Tuscany & the Italian Language

I was recently interviewed by the wonderful Chiara Borghesi for her website. Chiara is a language teacher who I serendipitously met through Instagram and we immediately clicked through our mutual appreciation of Italy and the Italian language. 

She was interested to know my perspective on culture, identity, travel and photography. As someone who speaks 5.5 languages and is currently learning Italian, I certainly know what it is to be immersed in different ways of communicating. 

For me, having a love of travel and photography is synonymous with the desire to learn languages and express myself. In many ways I think of photography as another language that I speak.  Communication is many things, it can be visual, verbal, non-verbal or written. The course my own life has taken has plunged me into different cultures and ways of living and no doubt that has its influence on the way I approach photography and visual storytelling. 

I feel that travel photography is a way of expressing glimpses of another place or culture to others and speaking another language facilitates that expression. It allows me to go deeper into the authenticity of a place, providing me with insight into conversations, wisdom, and perspectives that may have passed me by otherwise. 

In that way I can create photos that other people will resonate with and interpret in their own way purely through visual communication. Many little images can convey a bigger story. I think that’s why I have always loved travel photography and it’s also been the inspiration behind my postcard collection. That desire to eternally capture simple moments with greater meaning is also a big part of what drove me to create my two mindful photography courses. 

I believe that connection can make the world a much better place and authentic, visual and verbal communication is an integral part of that. 

To see my interview with Chiara https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n-gxIrmlPlU&feature=youtu.be