A Different Eye on Florence

This private photography walk takes place in Florence with an award-winning street photographer and Magnum Photos mentee. Robbin has chosen Florence as her city for many years, and that relationship guides the session. She knows its tucked-away corners, changing light, streets, squares, and ordinary scenes, and uses that knowledge to help you photograph it with more attention. As you move through the medieval center and into the side streets that don’t usually define the standard Florence itinerary, Robbin helps you tune into the city photographically, choosing where to slow down, what to observe, and how to approach each situation according to your eye and interests. The session follows Florence as it appears that day, with guidance adapted to preferences and the kind of images you want to make. Robbin brings in technical guidance when useful, without turning the experience into a lecture. It stays an adventure you go on together.

Florence is one of the most photographed cities on earth, and that is where this experience begins. So many images already exist, often taken from the same viewpoints, with the same instinct to record beauty before really looking at it. Robbin’s work with you starts by moving past that habit. The opening conversation over coffee helps you and Robbin get in tune before you start, with space to talk about the subjects you are drawn to, the photographic style you prefer, your interests, and the details or situations that make you curious. As you walk, Robbin brings in what can make each scene work visually: why this doorway holds a frame, why this moment matters, what the light is doing to stone, faces, and movement at that exact hour. The Magnum approach runs through the exchange as disciplined attention before decisive shooting. You leave with images that feel recognizably yours instead of a set of postcards.

Robbin Gheesling is a street photographer based in Florence, and a mentee of the Magnum Photos program — one of the most rigorous and respected photography mentorships in the world. The Magnum connection represents a specific way of working: patience over instinct, observation over reaction, a photograph earned rather than taken. That approach shapes every session. Robbin has spent years on these streets, which means knowing not just where to stand but when. Which piazza empties out after nine. Where the light hits the river in the late afternoon and for how long. Which corners the tour groups haven't found yet.

Your camera and whatever you like to shoot with — a favorite lens, filters, a tripod if you shoot long exposures. Or just your phone. The instruction works either way. Comfortable shoes. The streets are uneven, and the route is entirely on foot.