This month — the month when many of us travel while on summer holiday — we welcome guest blogger Jackie Cuervo.  Jackie  is a documentary photographer living with her family in the Sunshine State. Her images are a visceral response to the feel of place, memory and connection. She is often found frequenting art museums for inspiration and working on fine art photography projects.  You can find her work at www.jackiecuervo.com, on instagram @jackiecuervo, or at vsco.co/jackiecuervo.  Here, then, are Jackie’s visual souvenirs from a trip to Italy.

Traveling to a new place can be an endless source of inspiration. With so many sights and memories to capture, it is also overwhelming for an over-thinker like myself. My eyes dart all around me and I want to click in rapid succession as to not miss a thing.  Ironically, this is usually a sure fire way for me to miss it all.  So for this trip I gave myself the limitations and freedom that I find in film, a set number of frames and no immediate feedback to second-guess my shots.

I spent my first morning in Rome simply watching the city awaken.  On the corner the floral vendor sets up his street shop as the newspaper stand opens.

At the café I begin to notice the rhythm of the city. While I sit and enjoy my macchiato I listen to the chatter of the early morning commuters sipping espresso at the bar.  A pair of Nuns catch my eye as they turn the corner, and every few minutes, men clad in blue suits zip past me on their motorcycles.

Before picking up the camera I ask myself, what does this place and moment feel like to me?  I find the answer in the play of light and shadow, and the contrast of the busy piazzas and the quiet narrow side streets.

I’m drawn to the graphic details, colors and textures found in the daily life of the locals.  Similar to what inspires me at home.

As a tourist, I have a bucket list of places to explore.  As a photographer, I want to capture these familiar places in a different way.  Experimenting with double exposures I capture the crowds of St. Mark’s Square in Venice and the island of Burano.

After twelve days I return home inspired by the people of Italy, the light, the culture, and a bag of undeveloped visual souvenirs of our time in this beautiful country.

Maybe one day I will approach digital in the same way but for now, my artistic side awakens with film.

Do you want to Be Our Guest?  Leave us a comment below with a link to your blog, Instagram account, or other place you post your images.  You can also add a hashtag to your IG images: #viewfindersio_beourguest.

See you soon.

xo lucy