Street Photography in Bologna

Piazza Maggiore is the heart of the city, under the half-finished facade of San Petronio. Wilson calls it the city's living room in the warmer months, full of people sitting and talking, with outdoor cinema on summer nights. Sit on the basilica steps and shoot across the square as people cross, using the long shadows of late afternoon. The Neptune Fountain in the next piazza draws a steady crowd. Watch your bag during big events and film screenings.

The Quadrilatero is the old market district just east of Piazza Maggiore, a grid of narrow lanes like Via Pescherie Vecchie and Via Clavature. In the morning, delis hang hams and cheeses over the street and shoppers queue at the counters. From about 6pm the same lanes fill with aperitivo tables. Stand at a corner and shoot down the lane for layers of hanging food and faces. Mercato di Mezzo is a covered food hall. The lanes are tight, so step into a doorway to shoot without blocking the flow.

Piazza Santo Stefano is triangular, not square, which gives it a tapering perspective towards the Seven Churches. Victoria Vanderberg calls it the prettiest square in the city and suggests morning light, when the sun comes low across the piazza and crowds are thin. Stand at the wide end so the church anchors the frame, and wait for a cyclist or a figure to cross the cobbles. On weekends the square is busier.

Via Zamboni runs through the university quarter, lined with faculties under long porticoes and walls covered in posters and graffiti. At the top, Piazza Verdi is the students' square, quiet in the morning and crowded after dark with groups drinking and talking. By day, use the porticoes as frames for students with books and bikes. At night, work the edges of the crowd with a fast lens. It gets rowdy late, so keep your gear close and don't stick a camera in anyone's face.

Bologna City Breaks calls Via del Pratello the city's counter-culture spine: once its poorest quarter, then a centre of student and antifascist movements. Political murals cover the walls, and osterie and pubs fill from around 6pm until the early hours. Go at dusk for pavement tables under the porticoes. The murals make strong backdrops for passers-by. Every 25 April the street closes for the Pratello R'esiste festival. People here are relaxed but may not want their faces online, so ask.

The Finestrella is a small window in a wall on Via Piella. Open it and you look down on the Canale delle Moline, the view that earned Bologna the nickname Little Venice. Vanderberg says to go early, before the queue forms. For street work, do the opposite: come at midday and photograph the queue. People crowd around the window with phones, which is a better picture than the canal. Stand across the lane and wait for a gesture.

The Portico di San Luca is the longest in the world: 666 arches and about 3.8 km from Porta Saragozza up to the sanctuary. Bologna Bites suggests standing at the outer edge of the long curve halfway up with a telephoto to compress the arches into a tunnel. Walkers and runners give you a single figure in that tunnel. The Arco del Meloncello, where the climb begins, is a good first stop. Late afternoon light slants through the arches. It is a steep walk, so bring water.

Via Farini has some of the most elegant porticoes in the centre, with warm red and ochre ceilings over smart shops. Vanderberg suggests the hours after sunrise or before sunset, when low light reaches deep under the arches and lights the ceilings from the side. Stand at one end and use the columns as leading lines, then wait for a figure to step into a patch of light. The street is busy with shoppers in the afternoon. Keep your back to a column so you don't block the walkway.