Venice, once one of the World’s greatest cities, is a paradox.
Sublimely beautiful and architecturally frozen in time, visually Venice is still a city beyond compare though the weighty effects of modern mass tourism are felt everywhere by visitors and Venetians alike. It is as if the entire city has somehow unwittingly morphed into a giant set. A Disneyland for grown-ups.
Yet her ancient waterways still ply all the trade for the city and, as at the height of her fame and success, people from many nations continue to take up temporary residence behind her damp walls. It is as if she knows how to absorb the blows. I wonder if the city’s true character actually been changed at all? Perhaps things are just they have always been in Venice. Perhaps she’s just a consummately opportunistic survivor?
Go out onto her streets at night and Venice takes on an entirely new character. Mysterious, at times almost sinister, yet also exciting and dramatic. An imagined adventure awaits around every corner.
How ever you view her a visit to the Venice Carnival is a feast for both the eyes and the camera. Here a few photographs from this February’s Carnival.
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- These cheap tourist trinkets in a shop doorway create an interesting image when seen on mass.
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- The Venice Carnival is an event for everyone and an opportunity to present a different look to the outside world.
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- Carnivale gives anyone a chance to create an alter ego for themselves.
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- The campanile in St Mark’s Square makes the background for this woman in blue.
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- Leigh Bowery meets Matt Lucas in this kitch outfit parading outside St Mark’s.
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- Carnivale is a return to an age of elegance for some.
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- Red and gold combine stunningly in this carnival outfit.
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- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
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- A bouquet Venetian style.
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- Tradition makes way for sensation in some of the elaborate costumes that come out for the Carnival
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- This could be anyone – the potential for anonymity is one of the great games of the Carnival season.
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- Only one of this group standing on a bridge faces me as the others look the other way.
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- To see and to be seen is the purpose of it all.
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- This type of gondola is the daily ferry transport for all Venetians across the Grand Canal when they are too far from either the Rialto or Accadamia Bridges.
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- This old boatyard still produces and repairs gondalas today.
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- The washing lines attach across the spans of streets and canals joining two homes connected only by domestic necessity.
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- Every washing line tells the world a story about the unseen inhabitants of Venice.
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- Tempting delicacies are part of Italian life and Venice is no exception.
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- Venice is a city of vistas, glimpses and reflections.
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- Extravagant opulence and ornate display is de rigeur for those with homes on the Grand Canal
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- A gondaliere approaches the city across the lagoon.
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- Five gondolieri ply thier trade on the Grand Canal – you can almost hear them singing!
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- A classic Venetian view up the Grand Canal towards The Santa Maria della Salute Basilica (also called ‘La Salute’)
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- Everywhere you look someone is going somewhere on or over the water.
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- At night Venice takes on an entirely new character. Mysterious almost sinister yet also exciting and dramatic. An imagined adventure awaits around every corner.