Italy

During June of 2023, I spent two weeks in Italy as a part of Travel Storytelling, a study abroad course. I had the opportunity to photograph many cities such as Urbino, Rimini, Pesaro, Florence, and Bologna, as well as the pride parade in Rome. Outside of this event, I mainly focused on architecture in the various locations we visited. Each of the images below links to a collection of photos from each location we saw as a part of this trip, and can be viewed fully by clicking on them:

But beyond just the sights, I had the tremendous opportunity to attend and photograph Rome Pride 2023. Rome has been celebrating pride for many years, with the first parade being held in 1994 and hosting the annual EuroPride in 2011. However, the event was especially topical now, just after a new wave of restrictive legislation by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Meloni has openly campaigned as a candidate protecting the traditional family, a concept she sees as threatened by gay couples and the concept of surrogacy. Italy has not only outlawed surrogacy within the country, but is now in the process of outlawing surrogacy done outside of it as well. At this moment, only biological parents are allowed to be recorded on birth certificates, and LGBTQ+ parents have found themselves removed from their children’s birth records. Because the organizers of Roma Pride remain in support of surrogacy, the president of the Lazio region withdrew his support for the event as a whole. Rome Pride this year was not only a celebration, but an active protest against the institutions in Italy that are attempting to oppress and silence them. It was something I was honored to witness and document, and I’m very proud of the work I did. Below is a record of all of the photography done at the pride parade this year: