ROME AUGUST 1999

Jehsong Baak, Couple on a moped, Rome 1999 — Couple on a moped, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Street lamp and cloud, Rome 1999 — Street lamp and cloud, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Roman soldier and Jesus at Cinecitta, Rome 1999 — Roman soldier and Jesus at Cinecitta, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Lying sculpture, Rome 1999 — Lying sculpture, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Casting call, Rome 1999 — Casting call, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Squirting fountain, Rome 1999 — Squirting fountain, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, O clouds, Rome 1999 — O clouds, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Coliseum from a taxi, Rome 1999 — Coliseum from a taxi, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Girl in playground, Rome 1999 — Girl in playground, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Three heads in Fellini's office, Rome 1999 — Three heads in Fellini's office, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Boy and monster, Rome 1999 — Boy and monster, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Woman at a busstop, Rome 1999 — Woman at a busstop, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Singing restaurant owner, Rome 1999 — Singing restaurant owner, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Two cats on a car, Rome 1999 — Two cats on a car, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Old man, Rome 1999 — Old man, Rome 1999

Jehsong Baak, Two clouds, Rome 1999 — Two clouds, Rome 1999

After my first year in Paris, despite strict adherence to Mahatma Gandhi lifestyle, I ran out of money. I had no choice but to return to the States, first in New York (New York is not a good place to go back to when one runs out of money), then to Philadelphia where Don, a photographer friend, recently divorced, generously offered me free room and board in his house. There, I spent a lot of time sleeping and thinking about why I hadn’t succeeded in figuring out a way to make it work in Paris.

After a few months, I went back to New York and borrowed some money from my former boss. And sold one other thing left in my possession of monetary value (other than my Leicas and my pictures) – a fairly decent tube amp hi-fi system with custom-made speakers, for a paltry sum. We all look for money wherever we can find some so we can get from point A to point B, don’t we?

Anna Bruna, the first friend I had made in Paris, arranged for me to spend the month of August with her mother, Munda, in Rome. I had never been to Rome.

So for one month, I roamed Rome from morning to night, from one end to the other, soaking in the intense and unrelenting sunlight and pushing out plentiful sweat. I had no place to go back to in Paris, and no place anymore in New York. But I tried not to think about that and reminded myself that I had a month to explore this extraordinary place and people and colors and flavors and sounds.

Anna Bruna got her friend Ernesto to introduce me to the director of Cinecitta, who gave me access to go where I wanted within the compounds of the mythic studio. The most exciting moment was sitting alone in Federico Fellini’s office, which was meticulously kept exactly as it was when he had died in 1993. Sitting at his desk, I couldn’t help but to ask the maestro, “Signore, what does it take to be a good artist? How does one cope with so many failures and doubts? And wherever you are, could you bless me with some of your magic, per favore…because when I get back to Paris, I’m going to need some.”

ROME AUGUST 1999

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