“Who am I here with?”

“Kendall Allen.”

“Could you please tell us about your work?”

“I wanted to tackle burnout and to see the quiet glimpses into people's lives.”

Kendall Allen, a photography student focused on the people of Florence for his class project. His black and white photos captured different people from all over the city.

When asked what he wanted people to notice most about his photos he replied, “I'd say people. I think people have a lot of details that go unnoticed.”

Allen wanted to capture the soul and heart of the people around him during his stay in Florence as a study abroad student. Alongside his photography, Allen wrote two poems for the writing part of the class, Tiny Florence: Photography & Writing. “Anointed” and “Breath” were written to capture the feeling of being abroad in a foreign country for the first time. Allen wrote of the anxiety of traveling alone, meeting new people and trying to find his own way of life here.

The creative writing portion of the class allows students to express themselves beyond just the visual. It's intended to get the students to think about their work and the city of Florence in both literature and visual art. The core emphasis is expression and the many ways storytelling and experiences can be shared.

Allen, along with six other students studying abroad at Florence University of the Arts (FUA) this summer had their final collection showcased at the Palazzi Community Center on Thursday, July 16. These students, part of FUA’s photography class, worked all semester on their series of photos and creative writing pieces to show to the community.

Professors Marco Gualtieri and Sofia Galli taught their students during this three work course to get them acquainted with the art of writing and photography. The goal was immersion. 

Art is powerful, especially when living in a foreign country. These students in this class were tasked to go outside their comfort zone and find what makes Florence so special. Almost all the students chose to study the people. 

This event was a large joint venture from students and professors. There were the photography students themselves and there were the curation students who put on the event and helped choose which specific pieces of work would be featured. 

Chase Carda who was involved through the gallery and exhibition curating course on Allen's project said, “this is all about taking a break and self-reflection, which are both things that you come to learn or they come to you during this experience. Just taking the time to take a break and notice these little moments in Florence are really meaningful.”

She then followed it up by sharing it was this idea that helped her to form how Allen's project would be displayed. They went for a minimalist look and found a way for each piece to stand as its own. 

All of this paired with Allen's poetry is what brought his exhibition to life. It's what made all the students in this room's work shine. 

A line from Allen's piece titled “Breath” states “Dedicate your heart, and when you grow weary again. Take a breath and take a break.”

Allen's focus in his pieces was also seen in many of the other students as well. People seemed to share similar inspirations and ideas. On this subject their photography professor Marco Gualtieri said, “I would say they also pay attention to the summer lighting, the specific mood, and maybe even the heat of the day. The importance of the people, I think, influenced them in a way. I can see it in the pictures.” 

Another student by the name of Connor Allen chose to focus on people as well. For him it was something natural to gravitate to instead of architecture, art, or other parts of the city. 

Connor's main focus was on the human experience. 

“The human experience is a universal thing. That we deal with the same exact stuff across the board, whether that's grief, loneliness, sadness, happiness, content, sorrow, joy, laughter.”

One of Connor's poems titled "Disassembly" shares the point of view of being in the world for the first time. Yet by the end of the poem you realize this is a person who's been here, who's lived in.

“I wanted to display what it's like to be locked into my own world and not being able to see very far outside of myself, and then contrast that with the opposite of that, being able to see that there is a whole other person in front of me, whoever that may be, and I need to kind of let my mind just clear out, empty,” he said. 

These ideas paired with his photos of melancholy capture what Connor found so interesting in this city. The people. 

Connor and Kendall were just two of seven from this class that had their work shown in the exhibition. Professor Gualtieri pointed out that many people followed suit utilizing humanity for their subjects. 

What makes a culture, what makes a city feel lived in is the people. It's no surprise so many students focused on the citizens of Florence. 

Lucienne Willinge, another student from this exhibition, had a poem that closed with a line that echoed what so many of these other students captured. 

“Now I realise, I didn’t quite know how much I had; the endless magic in the mundane.”