- The beauty of the architecture that has made Florence famous is revealed in stunning black and white images of the city taken during the pandemic Florentine photographer Lapo Baraldi eloquently captures a silent and surreal Florence, empty of people, during the first phase of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. Shooting with black and white film, these urban spaces are revealed as their planners imagined them, and the viewer becomes lost in their timelessness. As with archival images, we are aware of the life that is simmering below the surface. Florence As It Is is accompanied by a previously unpublished short story by Elena Ronchi.