What Happens When We Slow Down? The Art of Noticing Part I by Natalia Marianna

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the power of third spaces  and since then, we’ve been thinking a lot about what actually happens inside those spaces we’re able to create.

As we continue to host events, launches, gatherings, and programs, we’ve begun to recognize the significance of the smaller things that happen in between. Of course, the success and impact of everything that happens at Sitti is continually celebrated and supported. We love watching our community win. 

But the quieter moments also hold weight. When we see a past attendee who returns back into Sitti on a rainy afternoon, not for an event, but for a feeling of home and solace. 

When we see locals in our space, choosing to prioritize themselves, opening up to new experiences, and embracing vulnerability among strangers who, over time, become recurring characters in each other’s lives. 

I don't know how to define these moments, but I do know the moments that are harder to name, are the ones that are impossible to ignore once you’ve experienced them. 

This is what our team at Sitti noticed last weekend, when we had the opportunity to host The Art of Noticing, part one of a visual storytelling and observation workshop led by Natalia Mariana. 

Calling this a photography workshop would be underselling it. On the surface, it could have been understood as a workshop about photography. About learning technique, understanding light, or working with a camera.  

But very quickly, it became clear that it was about something else entirely. This is a workshop on the practice of noticing, through photography. It was about learning how to notice.

At one point, Natalia shared something simple, but it stayed with us. She spoke about how photography isn’t really about the gear. It’s not about having the best camera, the right lens, or the perfect setting. It’s about paying attention. About slowing down enough to notice what’s already there, and that’s exactly what began to unfold in the room.

People weren’t rushing throughout the session, and they weren’t trying to get it “right.” They were moving comfortably, sitting longer and looking closer. Someone mentioned, almost in passing, that they hadn’t realized how much they had been missing simply by moving too quickly.

This space we created that day was about amplifying the message that you do not need the most expensive gear to be a storyteller, and the message was definitely received. 

The evening we spent together wasn’t dramatic — it didn’t need to be. In sitting together, sharing moments from our lives, and learning to become better storytellers, we not only strengthened our skill sets, but quietly formed a group of people connected by a shared interest and a collective purpose; To begin capturing and archiving the lives we are living.

In our last blog, we spoke about third spaces as places where connection happens naturally. The places where people come not because they have to, but because they want to. What we experienced during The Art of Noticing felt like an extension of that idea.

Because a space can exist, but if we’re not fully present within it, we miss what it has to offer. A third space gives us the opportunity to gather, but noticing allows us to actually arrive and contribute to these spaces.

There’s something about photography that mirrors what happens in spaces like Sitti Hub.

Natalia’s approach to documenting asks you to look again. To notice the way light moves across a room. The way people sit with each other. The way a moment holds more than what’s immediately visible.

And maybe that’s the point. We’ve said it countless times, but Sitti has never been just about what’s on the shelves. It’s about what happens around them, and what Natalia created around our shelves wasn’t just a workshop.

It was an invitation to pay closer attention, not just through a lens, but in the way we move through spaces, engage with people, and experience our surroundings.

The Art of Noticing continues with its next session on May 24th, focusing on lighting — but in many ways, it continues this same practice.

Because noticing isn’t something you learn once. It’s something you carry with you in every room you enter, in every conversation you listen to, and in all the ways you recognize moments that might have otherwise passed unnoticed.

If the past year has taught us anything, it’s that the most meaningful parts of our community are often the ones that aren’t structured. They’re the ones that happen when we slow down enough to see them. 

The second session of The Art of Noticing will be held at Sitti Hub again, on May 24th. Tickets are now live, and you can click here to secure your spot. 

If you’ve been feeling the need to pause, to reconnect, or simply to experience something differently, consider this your personal invitation.

Written & Photos by Celina Shamon.