People-watching in Venice is not easy: there are very few places (other than outside the caffes) to sit and watch the world go by. The best observation-points are at vaporetto (water-bus) stops and on the boats themselves because, while the tourists are outside snapping the gondolas and the palazzi of the Grand Canal, the people who live and work in the city (especially in the winter) sit inside!
Here are a few of those Venetians (waiting for and on vaporetti) observed during recent visits...
Click on any image to view larger version via flickr
Here's a brace of Venetian couples on the streets where they live...
And one woman and her dog in what I still think of as one of my best photos: the sunlight and shadows, the pigeons in flight – almost, but not quite perfect! If only that man behind the woman wasn't there so she made a clearer silhouette...
And not forgetting this occasional resident...
Images: Brian Sibley & David Weeks © 2008-2011
Excellent photos Brian! You should really carry a sketchbook with you too. It's amazing what you see when you've forced to really look :)
ReplyDeleteI used to sketch a bit in Venice, but I'm just a doodler (totally undisciplined since my A-level Art days: I never quite capture what I see – still that applies to the camera, too!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of veterans, I noticed that a Veteran Disney animator& Imagineer Bill Justice who's aged 96 is still alive - and I found out his address, and I written a letter to him last week and delivered it to the post office. I wonder if he has some memories to share.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics - how many of your subjects were aware that you were snapping them?
ReplyDeleteRe the photo of David, the song, 'Where did you get that hat?' comes to mind.
Steven – I met Bill many years ago and he was delightful. I hope you hear back from him.
ReplyDeleteSharon – Well, obviously, the man in the hat was! As to the 'other hat' (as modelled by Mr W) it has proved a god-send (well, via the internet actually!) to one who increasingly finds himself follically challenged...
Great photos Brian! Most of them look like stills from a movie!
ReplyDeleteOh, lovely photos Brian, congratulations.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering, is a only a question of money, a question of temperature, or is a question of taste, everyone is in a kind of old fashion...???
Thanks for the compliments, Suzanne and Eudora!
ReplyDeleteIn reply to Eudora's question: Venice in winter can be very cold – especially when travelling on water – and the majority of women have long and very expensive fur coats. Any fur-protester could have plenty of targets in Venice! Old-fashioned? Yes, I suppose so, but in keeping with a city where the occasional contemporary fashion shops and sexy lingerie stores seem a bit like naughty young children showing off in front of their parents!
Beautiful photos Brian!
ReplyDeleteThanks Elena! Glad to have got to visit your fascinating blog!
ReplyDeleteI see you live in Milano, a city I have only ever visited once (and only for 24 hours – to help launch the Disney Blu-ray DVD of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)! But I did manage to get some dramatic shots of the Duomo at sunset which you will find here along with a few views of Florence and Pisa.