Something different
There are some places where I just can’t sleep. The crew hotel in Milan is one of them. The pillows are made of a material that feels quite close to the coziness of a stone and the bathroom odour is moldy mixed with the smell of the usual chlorinated cleansing agents that are being used in hotels. I once had a toilet that was mounted crookedly to the wall and it felt like sitting sideways on a hill trying to enjoy the sunset. Low cost comes at a cost and if the Uber to the airport is more expensive than the flight, things are going completely in the wrong direction - think about it.
Anyways, we arrived quite late in the evening looking for an almost 24 hours layover somewhere in an industrial park in the suburbs of Milan. I knew that I was facing a bad night’s sleep so I checked the weather for the next day and set my alarm to five in the morning. I left the hotel at around 05:30 and as the sun got up I arrived at the Metro which would bring me a bit closer to the action.
I jumped of the train at Porta Vittoria together with many other people who started their working day with a commute towards the city centre. I had no plan in mind, all I knew was, that I wanted to aim for the Dome which is literally in the middle of the city and I decided to shoot colour because the morning light was glorious and a much appreciated treat after a few days of grey Berlin winter days. I had the X-T5 teamed up with the 16-80 kit lens. The only thing that could have made me look more like a tourist would have been some white tennis socks in open toes sandals and checkered Bermudas with a short sleeve shirt under a vest with too many pockets but unfortunately it was too cold for that. There is one advantage about looking very touristy though: People see you photographing but they really don’t care at all.
The streets were fairly busy and I had difficulties to get in the mood. I realised once more that I am not a street photographer. However the light created some interesting motives.
I snapped in my AirPods and started listening to some podcasts. I needed a disconnection from the sound of the streets, the talking and all that noise.
The sun now stood high enough to create some interesting situations and I stopped for some time at quite a few light pockets. People really seemed to not care about my existence but having a zoom lens also helped to get the shot.
This here is one of my favourites of that day:
All these photos are unedited jpegs except for some minimal cropping. It’s a tweaked version of the classic chrome film simulation and I call that recipe “My Kodachrome”. I like it for the deep shadows and gritty appearance. Reach out to me if you want to know the settings.
I approached the city centre and the dome and avoided the typical tourist shots and got un café at one of the countless little bars.
I decided to slowly head back to the hotel to catch a few more hours of sleep. Milano with its narrow streets really ramps up after ten and I…I guess I just don`t like people. Except for this gentlemen (Favourite of that trip because I really got close to him at 35mm focal length):
I have the highest degree of respect for street photographers as this is a bazillion miles out of my comfort zone. I am not talking about that “hey I am a street photographer, may I take your portrait” TikTok bullshit, I mean people walking around with a 28mm or even 24mm pancake lens, observing the action around them, not hesitating to instantly push the shutter. Anyway I had a blast that day. These images totally stand out in my archive. The colour, the composition and the attitude is completely different.
Sleep deprivation can be bliss.
