Winter is probably the best time to appreciate the beauty and fragility of Venice. The city seems to rest from the hordes of tourists that destroy it as soon as spring comes. The low light emphasizes the fragility of the architecture as it plunges into the polluted waters of the lagoon. And like Lord Byron, we hear in its sunken halls the cry of nations, the inevitable consequence of its sinking, coupled with climate change and mass tourism. The inevitable hides in the denial, like an illusion trying to reassure us. A technology that would allow the city to avoid flooding, whose name, MOSE (*), evokes either a survival or a prophecy, we don’t know.
O Venice! Venice! when thy marble walls
Are level with the waters, there shall be
A cry of nations o’er thy sunken halls,
A loud lament along the sweeping sea!
Four photographs, different in composition, on a field of broken glass, ephemerally framed. Four photographs in which light and fragility combine to question the inexorable quest for an urban resilience and the means to bounce forward towards models more respectful of this cultural heritage that obliges us.
(*) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOSE
Shooting place: Venice, Italy.
Print size: A3, (11,7 x 16,5 inch) with argentic paper inclusions
Interesting how you break into the foreground space, engaging the viewer
Nice poem.
You made my day, Lewis!