No photos, please!

(A bit of) David, Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, Italy, April 2010.

For someone who is compelled to photograph everything, nothing frustrates more than the words, "no photos please!" Faced with magnificence like Michelangelo's David, the words become maddening. So there I am at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence; as the statue of David looms larger as I approach it, the finger on my Leica shutter itches and twitches as I spot the location of every docent that roams the hall with fascistic vigilance.

As I circle the statue, I resolve to shoot this naked fellow, Italian polizia be damned. I settle in a corner, rest the Leica on my lap, aim high, and take three blind shots with no flash. "No fotos, per favore!" shouts a bat-eared docent as she gives me the evil eye. So much for Leica's quiet shutter. Here are the unfortunate results of my stealth photography. Like my daughter loves to say: "Fail."

As luck would have it, a copy of the statue stands in the public, docent-less square of Piazza della Signoria in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. Ironically there was absolutely no thrill in shooting the statue here so I took one obligatory shot. Anyway, here's David, in his entire naked glory, in what to me is a far less interesting picture.