Students and community members gathered in Corridoio Fiorentino for Tiny Florence: an art exhibit produced by Florence University of the Arts and The American University of Florence students. Seven students were tasked with capturing Florence in 6x6 cm black and white photos, and wrote pieces that formed a dialogue with their photography. Their artistic process was rooted in observation and everyday moments that are often overlooked as study abroad students.

While the exhibit Tiny Florence has been done before, Tiny Florence: Photography and Writing is an entirely new course. Instructors, Sofia Galli and Marco Gualtieri led the course over three weeks to aid the students in creating something special. In the first few weeks of their abroad experiences, the students got to see Florence through a fresh and new perspective and complete assignments that enhanced not just their photography skills, but put an emphasis on their writing as well.

With the creative freedom to take their projects in any direction, students wrote and captured themes from grief, love, loss, and more to highlight their own unique stories.

Student Andrea Tonsenth reflected on her inspiration behind her piece, which was driven by Florence’s churches and religious culture. “[My inspiration] was that longing to be somewhere but just being afar, that was what drove me,” Tonsenth said. “I think the religion aspect is really interesting, especially here in Italy. Me and my friend were outside of this church, and were just so touched.”

Each student had their own touching story to share with their unique take on the city. Fresh perspectives were uncovered as the students stepped outside of their comfort zones to voice each special artistic style. 

Hannah Rose Olsen, another student involved in this semester's course, shared a touching story of the way her grandfather's recent passing inspired her project. “Being in another place and traveling around really made me realize that it doesn't matter where you go. You're always gonna always be stuck with your feelings.” Her favorite part of the process was the writing component, which allowed the audience to see the photos from her perspective.

“It’s one thing to photograph, but I’m also a writer as well. [I loved] being able to put pen to paper and just really get the emotions out,” Olsen said. “I think spilling on the pages brings it all out, and that’s when all emotions are really at their height.”

Having writing pieces accompany the photographs was a powerful way for the students to voice their artistic style and connect to the audience. For Magnus Brown, his love for poetry shone through his collection of photographs.

The students each had a unique take on their perspective of the city. Grief, loss, connection, religion, and even love were all central themes throughout the exhibit. Student Maria Brennan focused her energy on the love displayed around Florence.

“As I was compiling [photos] for the little assignments, I started to be more drawn to the couples,” Brennan said. “You see a lot more displays of public affection around the river. It would happen naturally because people are so affectionate.”

Through capturing couples in their own little world, Brennan created her own Tiny Florence through her lens that captured the sweetness of being in love in the city.

One of the instructors for the course, Marco Gualtieri, reflected on the success of the exhibition and the processes taken by his students.

“The students start understanding what it means to capture something visually, and then how to translate that into words, and how the two things are similar but very different. I think that’s the magic,” Gualtieri said.

The exhibition highlighted the small moments of Florence, not through a wide lens, but the more intimate and small moments that the photographs captured extremely well.

The showcase not only highlighted the students’ artistic growth, but also demonstrated how Florence inspired personal storytelling through both image and word. As the first exhibition to incorporate writing alongside photography, the event set a meaningful new standard for creative expression within the program.