When photographer Mary Pat McNally first ventured to Italy in 1999, she was impressed by the marks of modern culture on the historic cities and eternal landscapes. Sometimes it was graffiti on an ancient wall; sometimes, a motor boat waiting in a Venetian canal. "It intrigued me the way life goes on in Italy amid the splendor of the past," said McNally, graphics assistant at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center. "You will see people going about their daily lives in the shadows of great cathedrals, and hanging out their laundry between buildings that date back to the Middle Ages or earlier." "Treading on History: Photographs of Contemporary Italy," an exhibition of photographs from McNally's many trips, will be on view at the Rotch Library from Friday, June 1 through Friday, June 29. A reception will be held on Thursday, June 7, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The library's summer hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Photo / Mary Pat McNally

A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on May 23, 2007 (download PDF).