Ah, Italia. Where everyone is stylish, and everyone smokes. I exaggerate. I also take pictures while I walk. I did that here. It's a tactic I use a lot on holiday because, while my partner tolerates my constant snapping, she no longer stops or slows down when I have a camera in front of my face.
The body language of these two people makes it clear that they don't know each other. They are not walking to meet each other. They are simply navigating the narrow streets of Rome, each on their way somewhere, grabbing a midday smoke.
The composition here isn't great. The woman is balancing a concrete windowsill on her head, and the man has a drainpipe coming out of his. Still, I'm glad that each person's cigarette is visible against dark and neutral backgrounds. These two little flecks of white are what make the photo. It's extraordinary that the woman's cigarette is visible from so far away. The lift of her wrist draws our attention to it too. A cigarette in hand is still the fastigium of gesture.
I cropped the photo square to accentuate the curve in the road and the people moving along it. This aspect ratio also lets the two spots of green in the scene come into prominence, plant and door. Each corresponds nicely with one of the figures.
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19.03
