ciapannaphoto

The year began, as Roman years often do, in the middle of the rainy season.

Raining outside? Play indoors! Car doors will do…

Or perhaps you can go to a show. Salgado’s Genesis is near as good as photography gets.

And, if the show you go to is only so-so, perhaps you can make good use of the venue. This is Piazza Venezia as reflected in the shiny new glass at the Mercati di Traiano, once a mall, now a museum.

By early spring, when it gets toasty, it’s time to head to the nearest water-spouting lion.

Need to rinse your wine glass? Again, just look for a lion…

2013 will always be remembered as the year hundreds of levitators from India started hovering in every Roman piazza.

It will also be remembered as the year thousands of Harley bikes – and their riders – descended upon the eternal city.

… where they were greeted with open arms by everyone. Especially by the Italian motorcycle cops.

Kids never change. Soap bubbles, on the other hand, have gotten a heck of a lot larger now than when i was a kid…

I did do some travelling in 2013. But to keep this post within a manageable size, we’ll stick to Rome. (Yes, the lady in the above picture did make the commuter train.)

One of the better things i did in 2013 was to shoot a roll of film. It was such a trip, i started seeing plastic chickens in restaurant windows…

… in fact, looking through the viewfinder of a mechanical camera can induce all sorts of mystic visions.

And then there was Trastevere. I spent several days photographing this loveliest part of Rome, where time seems to move at a more reasonable pace.

Gotcha! 2013 zipped by pretty fast. But i’m pretty sure i saw it smiling as it went…