This is the first photo I took in St. Gallen right after arriving: I captured it from a bridge near my new rented home, and I consider it the most significant of my adventure. That's because it was the snow that welcomed us, and its abbey — rising before my eyes every day as the symbol of the city — shapes the perception of this place with its presence, giving it character and identity.
Snow is also a companion of adventure: you meet it on the mountains, in the streets, outside office windows. I decided to give the photo a postcard look because it represents my journey towards a place that from that moment on would become important to me. I moved here to work as a freelancer, and I am now settling in Switzerland.
At the weekend, people's favourite activity is going to the mountains, or at least to places where nature reigns unchallenged around the cities. In this article you'll find some of the excursions that left me with the most lasting impressions during my time here: you'll see the Rhine Falls, the city university with its ziggurat architecture and glass surfaces, the theatre that resembles it in style but is its opposite — made of concrete and windowless — the Scientist's mountain and other peaks nearby.
Starting with the first: the Rheinfall is a waterfall on Europe's most important river, which breaks its continuity with its grandeur, plunging from one riverbed to a lower one through marvellous cascades. To take the photo, I ventured onto the tourist boat that explores the falls up close — a really fun experience. Along with me, my partner and our dog, there was a whole group of Buddhist monks in their orange robes, smiling like children and busy fiddling with their smartphones to bring home images to show in Tibet.
They watched me with amusement as I lay at the bow, soaked by the spray, my lens aimed like a sniper to get the shot.
The university, on the other hand, with its minimalist yet gentle character, blends perfectly with the sky, giving you the feeling of being in another city, not German-speaking, almost abroad but not quite.
And yet, the first sentence I heard upon arriving was: «Yes, mum, I ate everything, don't worry», spoken with a Neapolitan accent. In an instant I was back in Italy.
Every world is a village inside a university.
I couldn't take my eyes off the corners and lines I was framing: they fascinated me with their simplicity, as if I were a fish drawn to the light.
The “Scientist” and the surrounding mountains are a must if you find yourself in St. Gallen. Here, every 1st of July, the Swiss celebrate the national holiday with a gigantic flag painted on the rocks, visible from kilometres away.
The pyramid-shaped mountain top is unmistakable: once imprinted in your memory, you'll find yourself recognising it in numerous advertising campaigns and localised social media content.
From below, it is imposing. That's why I decided to take a close-up shot with my Sigma Art 85mm mounted on the Sony Alpha in HDR mode. The sharpness of the lens gave me an incredible level of detail — particularly impressive when viewing the photo in its original format, although even on the web the quality remains remarkable.
A path finally led us to an immense lake, framed by curious cows that let themselves be petted like lambs. They watched me with amused expressions as I dived into the icy water, with those shades of blue you only find in the high mountains.
The last photos are details of the city theatre, which I used to create some drawings.
