I assumed Milan would be my favorite of all places, because of it's fashion, the way people spoke of it, and from previous photos I had seen online. But the more I go over this trip, I really can't pick out a "favorite" place. Yet our 3 days in Milan, I definitely did some of my favorite things and photographs!
The first stop we made was to the Fondazione Prada - Prada Foundation, seriously one of the coolest things I've ever been to. It is an art collection, and every building housing the art was made of a different material. Right when we walked in there was a photoshoot happening. Inside these glass doors is the Wes Anderson cafe, I didn't want to leave, I love seeing behind the scenes!
This is Lucia :) She became my go-to model on this trip. She's so comfortable and easy to work with in front of the camera. She also took all the pics of me on my Instagram! :) The light in the Prada Foundation was amazing. The mirrors acted as natural reflectors and I love shooting with natural light, so I started to take photos of everyone...
I took my 50mm and my 35mm on this trip, and ended up only really using my 35mm because that's what old street photographers did and I love the look. 35 isn't ideal though for selfies...
The upper part of the building you can spot from far away because it's literally made of gold. Beautiful, bright, and dreamy gold.
Faculty from the trip. The two on the left we met quickly - their friends. In the middle my art history teacher Jim, who knows everything about everything. His knowledge is insane. Then there's Anders - the architect. I can't believe his drawings! Helen-Maria next to him, wonderful Scottish accent and killer outfits. She is a design queen. And Mardell, Anders' wife who wore pretty shades of blue :)
We met this guy on the street, and Sam (left) had a conversation with him about music. It's so cool to hear everyone's stories in a completely new world. Also, the light was too good so I was taking pictures this whole time! We were wandering around and we found a little restaurant for dinner, not fancy at all, and it ended up being my favorite, yummiest pizza from the whole trip. Simple arugula - they call it rocket!
The next day we visited Achille Castiglioni's studio. He died in 1996 but his studio is now turned into a museum where everything is pretty much the same from when he left it. We got a tour with his daughter, it was so cool to hear her talk about him and how he designed things for her mother! This mirror he had against a corner, so no matter where he was in his studio, he could see his assistants at all times. Smart man ;)
This is Giovanna, his daughter. She gave the best tour and explained all of his designs so well. Some of them were so funky but so practical.
A close up of Picasso's brush strokes
After seeing so much architecture, it was so exciting to see prints from photographer's I've studied and looked up to. Here's Sally Mann, you may have seen this photograph before - it was extremely controversial for the content, but she was always working with her children.
Andreas Gursky - who you can always recognize from far away. We felt like nerds a bit going through galleries and naming all the artists and not looking at the labels, it felt good to know I really knew what I was looking at and who, too.
The Wes Anderson cafe - obsessed with him (a director), and obsessed with this cafe. It felt like you were in a movie of his.
We toured the Alessi Factory, one of the leading Italian design companies. Tons of kitchen ware, and tons of things that you wouldn't really think about that were designed. This was (I think) a plate - that I liked getting in close and making it feel like a landscape.
The woman who gave us our tour. She knew stories about every development and design. She's holding a book here from a shoot that happened, all huge artists that we know now were friends and always hung out; Dali was quite the model.
On the drive home from the factory, we stopped at Lago Maggiore, THE most beautiful place, I wanted to stay. This is Erika, she is such an amazing artist. She draws and paints with such attention to detail and accuracy.
The Viola was the prettiest of gelato colors the whole trip! I had that flavor with Mango, I still remember the taste!
This is Sophie - we were paired as roomies the whole trip. She is so genuine and thoughtful. We had so many random, funky things in common the more we found out about one another. Both of our little sisters were in Thailand at the same time, birthdays, names in families, and more. Right now she has no return ticket - she's traveling with her girlfriend Laura HEY GIRL! I miss them already.
The girls said I reminded them of a puppy a lot of the time, and started to call me Golden :) Here is Lucia with a picture of me ;)
The day I had been waiting for!! I love seeing The Duomo in photos, and sadly I didn't get the full view of it on my camera shots. But, I was right about Milan being the most fashionable city ever. The men and women and even children looked so good. So classic and timeless.
I'm a wannabe Garry Winogrand - a street photographer. I'm going to pretend he would have seen this with his eye too. Also - a major fear of birds - mostly pigeons, developed here. They get so close to you because people feed them! When I stood on top of this block for a photo - a man threw bird seeds at me and they all came at me. It was mean... I laughed but inside I cried, and I was terrified.
The roof of the Duomo was incredible. To some people this architecture would be overwhelming but it was so interesting to me. I sat with Lucia and 2 of my teachers and watercolored up here - until I got in trouble whoops! I've learned it's better to say sorry than ask for permission - it works in photography and apparently painting too. I should have known better...
Thank you everyone for checking out these posts, I feel so happy that people are responding well to them. I have gotten emails from family, and from people that I don't even know asking for prints. I got a message too that read, "Love your pictures from Rome! Like -- literally -- my mom and I are sharing ice cream and going through each one --- on by one!!! It's making her so happy -- perhaps that's your goal!" Things like this make each of my images feel so worth it, and so worth sharing to you all. Ciao for now - Venice is the last stop.