Photography
Siena – Medieval Beauty, and Lots of Animals!
Oct
Siena is one of those places that guidebooks seem to leave out these days for the need to appear to give you the ‘inside scoop’ about hidden towns and villages in Tuscany. Please, if you visit Tuscany – don’t miss out on visiting Siena! My favorite things about Siena (besides all the animal references) include all the medieval architecture, the Palio race, and pasta fresca al ragù di cinta senese – one of their signature dishes. So good! Siena really does have a lot to offer, and is an amazing example of a classic Italian medieval hilltop town. The mixture of its architectural styles, surrounding picturesque landscapes, and their…hold on I forgot to mention something – they have chapels for horses so they can be blessed before racing in the Palio di Siena. Not even kidding. Anyways!…. With the Siena collection, which is already available in my shop, my intention is to transport you to this truly Tuscan gem. I hope you love it!
One of the main attractions in Siena is the cathedral, or Duomo Di Siena. Its striped marble is so different from any other I’ve seen in Italy, and stands out in contrast from the brick and stone buildings surrounding it. I captured the front view of the cathedral from a low angle to transmit its immensity and the impressive details that compose it. Its religious adornments, geometric patterns, and animal gargoyles make it a perfect representation of medieval architecture. In my print A Frame Within a Frame you can appreciate a side view of the dome and the bell tower of the cathedral with its green and white marble contrasting with the brick arch that frames the picture. The stripes in black and green marble can also be seen in the bell tower that rises behind the dome. Mirror, Mirror is a close shot of the bell tower rising to the sky – and is also available in black and white!
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As an architecture photographer I primarily focus on highlighting balance, symmetry, and patterns. Even if Siena has subjects aplenty like many places in Italy, I also find that whenever I shoot in Siena that there is a unique struggle to capture such a city rife with beautiful imperfections. The whole city is built on uneven ground and the cathedral is slightly on an angle in respect to the surrounding buildings, which you can see if you take a look at my overview shots in this collection. For example, the print Strisce Imperfette shows a closer look at the cathedral where stripes don’t always follow the same pattern- or many times just randomly end. However, this challenge is part of the beauty of photography and imperfection is one of the things that makes Siena such an interesting place. This thought was transmitted when capturing A City Upon Us, which is actually one of the photos that put me on the map as a photographer in Italy. The sunset lighting and an obscure hidden spot I found produced a quite unique overview of Siena. Pretty proud of it if I should say so myself 😉
A City Upon Us
Siena, Italy
Moving on to one of my favorite parts of the city, I absolutely love all the references to animals. More than any other city that I have visited in Italy – animals both real and mythical are engrained into their culture, their neighborhoods- each district representing an animal, and even many streets have the names of animals! There’s even the Palio di Siena, which is a horse race that happens in Piazza del Campo, where districts compete against each other. It’s a very, very big deal for the people of Siena. Have a look at my shot Duomo di Siena for another look – be careful though, it just might convince you to book your next trip to Siena. Bring your hiking shoes and your love for hills! 😉
What’s Left
Siena, Italy
What’s Left and What’s Right show a detailed shot of the religious figures standing next to animal gargoyles that frame the cathedral, giving me one more reason to love this architectural masterpiece.
What’s Right
Siena, Italy
I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on this wonderful city and the new prints that came out of it. If you want to see more of them you can already find them in my store! If you came this far, thank you for reading and supporting local artists around the world. Also, if you haven’t done it yet follow me on social media! I hope to hear from all of you soon!
<3 Scott
