On a balmy, spring evening in May of 1991, we discovered Piazza San Marco for the first time. The bands were playing on both sides of the piazza. Waiters glided from table to table. The passing crowd swirled and flowed en masse, like the foam of a gigantic tide pool. The briny air, given life by the day's heat, was now aloft with a gentle breeze. The piazza seemed lit from within with the spontaneity and glow of an impressionistic painting. This first night has been forever frozen in my mind, and it shall never change. This is how I will forever remember Piazza San Marco.
Venice, Day 4. The office wasn't where it was supposed to be. And then when it was where it was, it was closed. This is the Italian bureaucracy. To ordered, logical minds it's infuriating. Yet, with some practice, dealing with the Italian *statali*, or government workers, can result in a pleasant, and altered, state of consciousness. Simply abandon your plans and any expectations. And find a bar.
It has been said many times that Venice is being loved to death. I wonder if photographing it hastens its demise? Do we become so jaded by the myriad images of Venice that they begin to bore us? How many photos of the campanile of Piazza San Marco can we look at before stifling a yawn? What do a million Internet photos of Venice do to our perception of this great place? How about a billion photos?
The vaporetto is Venice's public transit service. Venice being Venice, the public transit does not have tires nor rides on rails. It floats. This alone makes it superior to any public bus, train, or subway on earth. Add in the canals and lagoons of Venice and the comparison to public transit anywhere else becomes a bit silly. Riding a vaporetto is like nothing else that life has to offer.
It's a absurd notion. Thousands of tourists jam into Venice on a daily basis. Save a few weeks between the Befana and Carnivale, there is no off-season anymore for a city that called itself The Most Serene. Being alone in Venice truly is an absurd notion. Or maybe it's simply a state of mind.
The *motoscafo* is the Venetian version of a taxi. Since Venetian avenues are of water, its taxis are, of course, not automobiles. They are boats. However, to simply label a motoscafo as a boat is a gross disservice. To be the passenger of a motoscafo is like being a time traveler, an exotic adventurer, the hero of a romantic novel, or maybe even a movie star. Add your own imagination, your own superlative. One transforms immediately upon stepping down into the rocking craft. The ride in a Venetian taxi is one of the few things in life that surpasses the expectation. It's that good…that exciting.
Venice is a city of changing moods. Of changing cycles. It is a city that never seems at peace for very long, the victim of its stunning location and aching beauty. There always seems to be comings and goings to give Venetians something of concern.
It is our first morning in Venice and it is raining. I am undaunted. Great cities like Venice transcend weather and climate. My only complaint is that I must hold both camera and umbrella with the same hand, a juggling act that might result in short-circuiting my new Nikon. It's worth the risk. Venice is achingly beautiful in the rain, reflecting itself vainly in the shimmering pavement. I quickly learn how to hold the umbrella and click the shutter, all with the same hand and with efficient motion.
A return to Venice is like no other sensation. Like any good theatrical event, it's best to plan one's return with some flair. Venice is a city of the sea, given its birth by the briny lagoon. Therefore one should always, always approach her by boat. Any other way is simply not right.
I'm trying to figure out exactly why I love the Hipstamatic app for my iPhone so much. Perhaps making images with it is more like play than work. When I fell in love with photography it was with the magic of image capture. The technology, the craft, the brain full of details all came later. It was the snapshot that got me hooked, not that five-hour sessions in the studio with complex lighting and large-format cameras.
