Always something under the surface

by Izzy Dempsey (Germany)

Making a local connection Canada

I was navigating myself through the back alleys of old town Dubrovnik, in search for space and true character to be revealed. Then, glancing back down behind me, I stopped to take a photo at the top of the stairs. "Best street in the city, yeah?" said an older man with a salty beard and kind eyes, reminding me of my father. I'm sure he's seen it being captured millions of times by now. We began to chat, or tried to in the midst of the language barrier. He insisted I sit on his bench. He was selling cold drinks and an assortment of small souvenirs. He asked me what I wanted, and offered me it for free. I continued then to sit by him, drinking an ice tea, learning more about him as tourists passed by - eying his mini fridge while the hot sun beated down. He is only one of the 700 who lived in the old town of Dubrovnik today. The rest is now filled with apartments, hotels, etc. He has been selling his items and drinks to tourists for 7 years during the summer time, but been living there for over 50 years. I was going to give up on Dubrovnik short after arriving, quick to judge it by it's tourists and over photographed beauty. I took plenty of photos that compositionally and visually may be appealing, but this encounter was just another reminder of how much human connection and photographs of people mean to me. He completely changed my impression of the city, showing me there is still something true beneath the exploitation of the city caused by the mass amount of cruise ships.