A Life in Frames: How Mrs. Duato Captures the World
By: Jeremiah Lind

It was July 2024, it was a warm and sunny day in Italy. She could feel the ocean mist on her face, hear the people talking and the waves crashing against the rocks. Her legs started to get sore from walking for so long, an hour and 30 minutes to be exact. 

This is just the beginning of Mrs. Duato's vacation in Italy where she does a lot of photography. 

The first question that I asked Mrs. Duato in my interview was “How does photography make you feel? Why do you like it?” She told me many reasons why she likes photography and she also gave me a little story . “I think one of the biggest reasons why I like photography is being able to capture moments of my life, or experiences that I can go back and enjoy at a later time. I think a lot about when I was a little kid, my dad was very involved in photography, and he was able to capture it when I was a baby.  All the different moments of learning how to walk to being a teenager. When I had my own kids it was a great way to capture their changes as they grew up, birthday parties, activities, and I occasionally go back and look at them to remind myself of when they were little,” expressed Ms. Duato.

Another question I asked her was “How many places have you been to? What was your favorite place you visited?” She told me “I had to drive all around the United States because my dad hates airplanes, but I visited other countries as close as Canada and as far as to Europe, France, England, Italy, and Germany. I'd have to say that out of all those national parks and countries that I've seen there's one particular place I would go if I ever had the chance to go again and that would be the Cique Terre in Italy.” Said Mrs. Duato.

“There's a small town called Vernazza. It's one of five towns that are on the ocean. It was peaceful and relaxing- there's no cars, people just live very simple lives, their laundry hangs outside ‘cause they don't have dryers. There's only a few places to eat and a few shops to shop at and they live on these cliffs. I had to walk upstairs to be able to get anywhere and so do a lot of people I know. It's just a simple life and it's right on the ocean and you can just jump right into the water. It's warm and there's lots of wooden boats that people use for transportation. It's just really cool, and if I could, I'd be there everyday.” This shows how Mrs. Duato loves the peaceful life that the Italian people live. She thought that it was very beautiful. She expressed that she also liked how the water was warm, and just the simple and carefree vibe that Italy brings.

In my opinion Italy is not only beautiful but an extremely safe place to live and visit. Even Mrs. Duato agreed. She told me “Italy is very safe! I was just there a couple summers ago so I can relate to something. The people are very kind and welcoming.” I have never been to Italy so it was nice to hear someone who was able to confirm my beliefs. 

If you ever have the chance to travel to Italy, make sure to put Vernazza on your list!

The last thing Mrs. Duato said to me was “If I had the power to teleport anywhere, it would be in Italy.”