Photographing “La Serenissima”
“(...) nearly all the great things that exist owe their existence to a defiant despite: it is despite grief and anguish, despite poverty, loneliness, bodily weakness, vice and passion and a thousand inhibitions, that they have come into being at all.”
Thomas Mann, Death in Venice
Venice is a “despite”.
Despite the sea in the lagoon, there was not only land taken from it, but that land was settled.
Despite having many enemies, Venice not only persisted, but was never fortified.
Despite economic decline after the death of its “parent” and main trading partner, Constantinople, Venetians continued to make a living and exist.
Despite being built on wooden beams, submerged in water, Venice (while slowly sinking) still keeps its head above water.
It is day number six for my little group and me in the “most serene republic” (La Serenissima), a name that doesn’t apply anymore but is still used to remind visitors of Venice’s former glory. And how many visitors have come! It is Carnevale and in certain areas of the city, it becomes difficult to walk. San Marco, which is the face of Venice, is partially torn up, and scaffolding is everywhere. Santa Maria de Salute, one of the most beautiful churches and a subject of one of my shoots in previous years, is encased in billboards which shows its facade painted on. And, of course, tourists, tourists, tourists.
For the photographer, who wants more out of their pictures than the typical “look I have been to Venice” shot, it is a frustrating experience. Taking a photograph of your model on the Rialto bridge, crammed between literally hundreds of people, is not going to happen. But remember that Venice is a “despite”. There are hidden places and bridges that are beautiful AND barely visited, there are times of day when the flood of people subsides to a trickle, there are courtyards with old, beautiful houses that make a superb background, there are narrow alleys that funnel the mediterranean light through them and carve your middle out of the dark.
Before a photoshoot I do reconnaissance. I look at the location, how heavily it is trafficked, the background it lends itself too, if there is construction (scaffolding!) in the way, and the time of day (the narrow alleyways change light dramatically as the sun travels). It helps, of course, that we rented a floor in a beautiful Palazzo right on the main waterway, the Grand Canal. The place just begs to be a background for all kinds of costumes. Just see the light-flooded sitting room below.
Tourists are a necessary evil. They are Venice’s main industry and encouraged to come. Most of them are friendly and understanding when you ask them not to run into your shot, some of them are rude and oblivious and try to cut in front of you to take a picture of YOUR model (insert angry expletive here). Some see a camera hanging from your neck and hand you their phones, asking their picture to be taken. When I am not on shoot or in a hurry, I always oblige.
As for now, I am taking more photos than I can hope to process in a day. There will be months of material coming out of this. You can follow the progress in this gallery.
One more thing a photographer has to keep an eye on when planning a shoot: the weather. The dome of the bright blue Mediterranean sky is not always crowning Venice this time of year. This morning I woke up to this sight:
Which of course presents its very own “despite”.
