Great angle on such a difficult subject— I didn’t remember that photo until i saw it here. You’re right— if you write about Italy, it’s very hard to avoid turning people into symbols or bit players in an opera buffa. The fact that you’re thinking about it and looking at the ramifications of it is why we appreciate the Italian Dispatch!
I so look forward to your dispatch every Tuesday. My day (or week) would not be the same without your wit and writing! I always learn from your essays, each one feeding my internal need to keep an open mind and fill the gap with new knowledge. Your reference to Kraft parmesan is always appreciated. Ever since your "lesson" at Christmas, Betty and I "upped" our personal demand to real and not shaken from a can. You spoiled us. And we are grateful! And, we are so looking forward to seeing you soon!
You're right Eric, using typical imagery, making it up outright, or finding a believable middle version really isn't new at all. Studying the XVIII century travel book "Voyage pittoresque ou description du Royaume de Naples et de Sicile" (for an art historical article I'm writing), a large format, five volume beautifully illustrated effort of over 500 refined etchings with accompanying texts, which took, and would still take, the international reader on a truly grand if gritty tour of the hitherto unexploded Magna Grecia of Southern Italy including Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, Malta, Pompeii, Herculaneum and more, one comes to realize that Italy was even then curated for the editorial, visual, and sometimes political, and religious context the audience was thought to have. While the overall product does represent the places visited at a good level of authenticity, most images that were somewhat quickly sketched out by several artists and draftsmen on site, were later tweaked for composition, visual impact of important buildings, with crowds, animals, processions etc. being filled in later, buildings growing or shrinking for added grandeur etc. Today we use Ai or image alteration software to do what these trained artists could do in their heads and on paper.
For anyone who is truly local to share their environment in any which way they choose I'm pretty happy with, but at some point, and certainly in a commercial context, doing so becomes untruthful cultural appropriation or, at the very least, heavily exploitative.
In this vein Bali recently began requiring influencers to request work-, not tourist visas when coming there to use the country's varied recourses to make a buck. I wonder how that will develop, and if it will be imitated by countries like Italy among many.
I love your writing, Eric (duh). The same thoughts cross my mind as I walk down via dei Fori Imperiali. Someone may drag me for saying this but I really do think a lot of people wouldn't come here if they couldn't take photos for their instagram.
Also, a chunk of real, imported parmesan is like $20 USD so I get why people stick with the Kraft haha
Great angle on such a difficult subject— I didn’t remember that photo until i saw it here. You’re right— if you write about Italy, it’s very hard to avoid turning people into symbols or bit players in an opera buffa. The fact that you’re thinking about it and looking at the ramifications of it is why we appreciate the Italian Dispatch!
I so look forward to your dispatch every Tuesday. My day (or week) would not be the same without your wit and writing! I always learn from your essays, each one feeding my internal need to keep an open mind and fill the gap with new knowledge. Your reference to Kraft parmesan is always appreciated. Ever since your "lesson" at Christmas, Betty and I "upped" our personal demand to real and not shaken from a can. You spoiled us. And we are grateful! And, we are so looking forward to seeing you soon!
You're right Eric, using typical imagery, making it up outright, or finding a believable middle version really isn't new at all. Studying the XVIII century travel book "Voyage pittoresque ou description du Royaume de Naples et de Sicile" (for an art historical article I'm writing), a large format, five volume beautifully illustrated effort of over 500 refined etchings with accompanying texts, which took, and would still take, the international reader on a truly grand if gritty tour of the hitherto unexploded Magna Grecia of Southern Italy including Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, Malta, Pompeii, Herculaneum and more, one comes to realize that Italy was even then curated for the editorial, visual, and sometimes political, and religious context the audience was thought to have. While the overall product does represent the places visited at a good level of authenticity, most images that were somewhat quickly sketched out by several artists and draftsmen on site, were later tweaked for composition, visual impact of important buildings, with crowds, animals, processions etc. being filled in later, buildings growing or shrinking for added grandeur etc. Today we use Ai or image alteration software to do what these trained artists could do in their heads and on paper.
For anyone who is truly local to share their environment in any which way they choose I'm pretty happy with, but at some point, and certainly in a commercial context, doing so becomes untruthful cultural appropriation or, at the very least, heavily exploitative.
In this vein Bali recently began requiring influencers to request work-, not tourist visas when coming there to use the country's varied recourses to make a buck. I wonder how that will develop, and if it will be imitated by countries like Italy among many.
I love your writing, Eric (duh). The same thoughts cross my mind as I walk down via dei Fori Imperiali. Someone may drag me for saying this but I really do think a lot of people wouldn't come here if they couldn't take photos for their instagram.
Also, a chunk of real, imported parmesan is like $20 USD so I get why people stick with the Kraft haha
for some, italy is a tomato and basil disneyland. i remember being appalled by this photograph when it first came out and now i am still appalled.