Venetian Ghosts #6 | Mark Lindsay

I spent the past week hunkered-down with work. I neglected my blog and hadn't had time to pick up my camera. I felt detached from photography and generally removed from that aspect of my creative process. This morning I was resolved to regain my creative momentum. Since I had no new images, I searched through my image library, seeing if something resonated with me. And there it was! A photo I'd made some three years ago while spending the holidays in Venice. It instantly brought me back feelings of the city. It made my heart ache for the place.

Usually it is the smell of a place that burns its way into my memory. Venice has the briny essence of its lagoon that provides me with instant recall. In fact, all the senses are excited by Venice. But, more than anything, Venice is a visual city, a giant stage set that is past its prime but probably more beautiful in decay than it was in its peak of glory. It is impossible not to take evocative photos of the place. Great visual artists are forever drawn to Venice. It stirs the imagination and makes one feel the pull of making art.

And so, today, a day where I feel depleted, I found this image of Venetian pigeons on Venetian stones. The pigeons are as big a part of Venice as are its canals. They are ubiquitous as are its stones. Sweet and gentle, they are the peaceful souls of city known for centuries as La Serenissima, The Most Serene. The photo makes me long for the place, want to simply sit and watch it and breathe it in.

Great places have a way of being forever with you. They work their way into your heart where they reside as long as you live. They bring joy and melancholy alike. When you return to them they are like great lovers; magnificent, beautiful, alluring, and terribly flawed. You feel that you cannot live without them. Your moments with them are fleeting, you can feel your time together slip away with each passing breathe. Then they are gone again. And all you have are a few fading photos.

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