The photographers: Avery Berlowski, Olivia Clausen, Emme Goss, Mily Jenkins, Naima Masia, Matteo McClane, Kelsey Pecchia, Sophia Rivera-Korver, Angela Rotondi, Livia Sarnelli, Mallory Siebert, Lily Sood, Sean Surovsky, Ara Tandon, Gia Wang. Editors: Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock and Joseph Lawton. Cover quotation: Anatole Broyard

Avery, Olivia, Emme, Mily, Naima, Matteo, Kelsey, Sophia, Angela, Livia, Mallory, Lily, Sean, Ara, and Gia’s relationship with Italy commenced on June 3, 2024. They immediately launched into the photographic business of observing, processing, and translating life into images comprised of swooning enchantment and clear-headed examination. They considered everything as potential photographs, from dramatic ruins to the everyday choreography of the street. When looking at the range of images in this book, one is reminded of a statement by the 19th-century novelist William Makepeace Thackeray when he said: "The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, familiar things new." That’s a succinct description of photography.

The activity of walking, seeing, and photographing, which at first seemed physically and visually overwhelming, gradually changed into something irresistible. Over the month, endless new terrain and innumerable new sounds, smells, tastes, and experiences, a transformation occurred. The initial shock and strangeness of being in a new country yielded to less conventional and more delicate, nuanced, and personal impressions. If most photographs are exposed somewhere around 1/125 of a second, then collectively, the exposure time of the images in this book adds up to barely a single second; however, the impressions, both sacred and profane, that Italy has made on the group will undoubtedly last for much longer.