In the summer of 2024, a hot Trieste is heated by the sun, and the city stretches out for a sunbath on its hot pavements. These and other curiosities are captured by American photographer Erin McKinney, now an adopted Triestean, who captures peculiar aspects of local customs, revealing how what seems simple hides a surprising complexity.

Erin McKinney, a documentary photographer, developed her passion from an early age, driven by curiosity and the observation of others’ lives. Her professional evolution was influenced by renowned photographers and an initial desire to tell the story of the world and its contradictions. Her approach is now more joyful and humorous, documenting everyday life. In Trieste, she found inspiration in the vibrant local community, especially among the elderly, and in the city’s contrasts. Her career as a freelance photographer takes her to work in diverse environments, constantly fueling her inspiration.

Erin McKinney will also be teaching Visual Hub’s morning street photography course in November at Stage21 Trieste.

How did your passion for documentary photography begin? I think it began from curiouslty when I was a child. I grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness and we had to go knock on strangers doors to speak about the bible every week. I remember feeling sometimes embarrassed but also being so fascinated by the people, especially when they would invite us in their home. I would look around at their belongings and photos and was very curious about their personal lives. I became very visually intrigued and would keep some of those photographic memories with me for along time. As I grew up I had fun taking pictures of strangers and funny situations with disposable cameras mostly but it was just for fun. In my late 20’s I wanted to be a photojournalist, covering all of the atrocities of the world because I had seen such touching and heartbreaking images from photographers like Sebastiano Salgado or James Nachtway and I thought it was a way to help tell the world about the horrible things happening. But it also made me incredibly sad to look at those images everyday. I went to study photography in Amsterdam and there I was introduced to a whole new world of documentary photography from people like Martin Parr, Joel Meyerowitz, or Sally Mann and I realized you can document the world in many ways, you can make people smile and laugh and feel connected and it’s just as important. I instantly felt more drawn to this approach. How long have you lived in Italy and Trieste and what have been your photographic inspirations in the Italian context? I’ve been in Trieste for about 9 years now and I’m very inspired by the elderly population of the city! I have a lot of fun watching them and talking to them. I love that bars are busy from the early morning and that the streets are filled with a kind of stylish rudeness that took awhile for me to get used to. I love the gritty vibes blended with a family atmosphere of Barcola. There’s a lot of contrast in Trieste and that makes for great photo subjects. But my first attraction was actually before I moved here. I was on holidays in 2013 and I went to Grado. I was mesmerized by the elderly people sunbathing on the rocks. They were so stylish and carefree, and looked so cool lounging around and chatting with each other. I started photographing them with a cheap point and shoot film camera and then I eventually went back over the years once i moved here with my digital camera. What do you think of the photography scene in Trieste? I’m happy to see more photography exhibitions and events taking place and I hope that will keep growing. A lot has changed in the few years that I’ve been here and that is inspiring. I hope to be a helpful part of that growth. Can you tell us a little about your photography studio? How you prefer to work
and how is your work environment structured? At the moment I’m sharing a space with another artist located in those streets with the cute colorful houses in San Giacomo. I do work a bit with studio lights and backdrops in the studio but my real love is being outside and using natural light, so a lot of my studio time is just for editing at my desk and meeting clients. I often do portraits outside using those colorful houses as backdrops As a freelance photographer I can be in such diverse environments everyday and that keeps me inspired. A few weeks ago, I photographed President Mattarella at a press conference, then went out of town to shoot a music festival by the river, and then came back in time to capture the Pope celebrating Mass in Piazza Unità—all within just a few days!  Could you share a meaningful moment you’ve captured through your photography?I went to the Slovenian/Italian border when the invasion of Ukraine began. Bus loads of women and children were arriving and I was helping pass out supplies and also photographing the scene. I met so many scared and shocked, yet strong and resilient women along with many small children, many of whom were clueless as to what was happening. I spoke with some and hugged and cried with others that didn’t speak English or Italian. I wanted to be respectful yet also wanted to capture what was happening and i think I was able to do that in a small amount of photos. Those pictures and stories are very special to me. I was able to visit some of the women in the shelters while they were still here and I hope to travel to Ukraine someday to visit them there. What are your favorite “spots” of the city of Trieste that they have caught your attention when you moved to Trieste? I really love the Mercato Coperto, Barcola, the streets of San Giacomo, and all of the buffets and bars where you can find old folks drinking! But the beauty for me is also just wondering around and waiting for something to happen.

What emotions do you want to talk about most? I think i really just enjoy capturing the human spirit on all it’s levels. A photo might have a complete different meaning for me than it does for another viewer. I do have my own emotion or feeling when I make the photo, but I prefer for the viewer to feel whatever they feel. In your CV you boast collaborations with other photographers, what did you take home from their photographic storytelling technique? To always dig a little deeper because the real stories are under the surface. Try to avoid the obvious stereotypes and cliches and find a unique story to tell. You have to be curious and quite obsessive to find those but it’s worth it. It’s important to find your own voice. Is there a particular story or subject that you have photographed that has deeply affected you? We saw that you took many street photos in the city and also at the seaside. I met a woman named Rose while I was studying in the Netherlands. She was drunk and being funny with me and I started taking pictures of her. She invited me to her home but when we got there I saw she had a very young son and the house was a mess. I came to realize she was an alcoholic and he was growing up in this chaos. She invited me to take photos of those scenes. I’d go visit them often and try to help but there was only so much I could do and eventually I moved away and we lost touch. Being with them was exhausting yet I felt I could help her and her son. I learned I couldn’t really do much at the end but that I needed to try. The images remind me of that. We can’t fix all the problems in this world but I’ll never give up trying.
I also love photographing carefree things like the seaside and streets because people are busy being themselves and often times not interacting with me. It’s not as personal, I don’t know their lives at home and we’re free to imagine while looking at the images. They make me smile. What is the most valuable advice you have received during your
training? And what would you recommend to someone who wants to get closer to your profession? I think anyone can work to become a technically better photographer with practice, but if you don’t know what you’re trying to say you’re images won’t say anything. All the gear and gadgets and techniques will never give you a voice. Photography is a language, so find your own voice and people will be interested in what you have to say. Especially nowadays where everyone has a camera at their fingertips and we are flooded with images daily. I also think it’s about perseverance. With street photography, you can spend hours outside walking and shooting and maybe not get anything satisfying which can be disappointing but that just means you better keep trying. I think that helps you find your voice. You have to make a lot of mistakes and push through them. What do you like most about capturing people’s daily lives
through your lens? It makes me feel connected to humanity and helps me to understand the world. It’s one of my ways of communicating with others. It teaches me about the world from the interactions with the subjects, to the way the subject responds to me, to the way I see the images, to the way the world responds to those images. It’s all just a way of connecting.

What are your current or future photography projects you are
working on? I take my camera with me everywhere I go so that is my never ending project that I’m always working on! I would really like to do a project based on myself and my own story. I would like to eventually travel to the US and retrace some of my steps in my own time but I’m not sure when I’ll get to that. I recently started a project about people and their pets in their homes which is fun because people really love their pets and it’s interesting trying to capture those interactions. Cats have sharp claws! I have one last question: one photograph from another photographer who has you particularly impressed and if you can describe it to me. Satellites by Jonas Bendiksen. It’s such a beautiful and surreal image with strange things happening. There are pieces of a fallen spacecraft in a a landscape of rolling green and yellow fields with dark gloomy skies in the background. 2 young men are standing in the spacecraft in the middle of nowhere and then you have these magical white fuzzy dots all over the image which are actually butterflies. The colors are very vivid and contrasty and all of these elements just come together for a dreamy photograph. You can get lost staring at it. Pictures from the series, Erin sees Grado, 2016, (Erin McKinney), Ukrainian refugees, 2022, Trieste and San Vito, 2024. Erin McKinney, portrait (courtesy Erin McKinney)