Having just arrived and caught somewhere between two worlds — not quite settled in Bergamo, yet not quite home either — the participants were set the task of capturing "life in Bergamo" and how it feels (for now) on video. The theme itself was left completely open.
The team ended up focusing on one observation: Bergamaschi’s love for dogs. Or at least, there are an awful lot of dogs here as they’d noticed within their first few days in Bergamo.
Through observing and moving around with the camera, they picked up several skills: the technical handling of the camera, communicating with people, navigating public space with a camera, the legal side of things and, of course, how to deal with dogs and their owners in Bergamo.
The team gathered footage together and then each edited their own individual video from the same material. The results bear out that first impression, just as varied as the people of Bergamo are, so are the dogs — but they belong to the city just as much.
In her video, Anke tried to visually capture the different speeds at which dogs move through the city alongside their humans: dogs dragging their owners along, trotting obediently beside them, or patiently waiting, taking in the world in their own way — at street level.
Through her video simply titled ‘Dogs of Bergamo’, Sarah tried to depict the diversity of characters and the vivacity of the dogs she came across as she strolled through the city. She also tried to capture how Bergamaschi dogs seem to have a social life of their own, almost independently from their owners, as they play, bark to defend their territory, and run around with their dog friends.
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