Grand Tour in NewYork City

 In the 18th century, the Grand Tour was a journey of art and self-cultivation for Europe’s elite. For me, a graduate in Media and Communication, a modern Grand Tour would not be about luxury or leisure, but about learning to listen — through stories, sound, and people.

My Grand Tour would take place in New York City, at the Bronx Documentary Center, a nonprofit dedicated to community journalism and visual storytelling. I would join as a media intern, helping to edit short films, record interviews, and curate local photo exhibitions that amplify marginalized voices.
This journey would be educative, teaching me how documentary practice can challenge stereotypes and empower communities to represent themselves.

More than technical learning, it would also be transformative: working with Bronx residents, I would confront my own assumptions about “truth” in media, realizing that every story — including my own — is shaped by power, empathy, and perspective.

When I return to Melbourne, I plan to create a student-led project called “Local Voices”, inspired by what I learned in New York. It will invite students from diverse backgrounds to use photography and podcasts to tell the untold stories of our own neighborhoods.

If I were to paint a portrait of myself as a contemporary Grand Tourist, I would hold a camera and a recorder, standing before a graffiti-covered wall. The lens symbolizes curiosity, the recorder represents empathy — and together, they remind me that in the digital age, every journey begins by learning how to listen.