Yaya's Roma

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Italy | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | 5 photos

Hello,

I am an aspiring photographer with absolutely no professional training but a huge passion and desire to learn. My childhood dream was to become a wildlife vet, I envisioned running around with gazelles, riding zebras bareback and befriending panthers and bears. I soon found out that firstly I needed to be good at science and maths to become a vet, (these were not my best subjects) and secondly that wildlife is better admired from a distance. I gave up my dream of becoming a vet, but my love for all animals remained. I discovered my passion for photography while taking millions of photos of my pets in the garden; the cats loved it, they made fabulous models.

My mother is french and my father is Italian, they left Italy and moved to Thailand when I was about seven. I am currently majoring in cultural Anthropology at the University of Sydney, a subject that I'm really passionate about. I hope to marry my love for photography, wildlife, anthropology and travel in my future career.

When I saw this scholarship I thought that this is the perfect opportunity, especially because I have always felt insecure about my amateur photographic skills, to turn aspirations into something achievable.

The series of photos I've sent in today are of Rome where my grandmother still lives. Rome's beauty is undeniable, a beauty that has inspired a plethora of very good and famous photographers. Therefore I wanted to capture a more intimate or personal Rome; a Rome from the perspective of a local, my Grandmother and perhaps of a child. I wanted to portray a Rome that is at the same time lonely and hectic, spiritual and secular.

Thank you for your time and this wonderful chance and looking forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Giulia