This scene is all about unspoken contrast—between privilege and need, tradition and reality. The composition pulls you into the interaction just before it happens: a priest, mid-step, about to enter the church, and a man outside, hand outstretched. There's tension in the space between them, in the open door that separates interior calm from street-level hardship.
Visually, the framing is tight and intentional. The doorway acts like a symbolic threshold, and the steep ramp creates a subtle diagonal that draws your eye straight to the gesture. The priest’s flowing robe and precise movement give a sense of ritual, while the man’s stance is uncertain, almost hesitant. Everything is rendered in monochrome, which flattens distractions and forces attention onto form, light, and gesture.
What struck me in that moment was how naturally the narrative emerged—without posing, without setup. I saw it unfold and knew I had just seconds to press the shutter. That space between them said more than words ever could.
Welcome to my world of photography. I am Martijn Jebbink, born in the Netherlands and living in Rome.
I grew up in a small town, surrounded by an impressive forest. In that environment I developed my own way of looking at the world. At first, I didn’t see..
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