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Spirited Travelers, bite-sized travel stories.

04-Dec-2019

A gondolier prepares his gondolas for the day.

Venice 2019: I’m glad I brought my waders.

I booked a photography workshop in Venice, Italy a year in advance. Who knew then that it would coincide with the worst flooding to hit Venice in over 50 years?

Buying hip waders: the adventure before the adventure

The workshop instructor, David, was already in Venice when the flooding began. He kept us workshop participants updated and by the day before I left, it was clear that I needed something taller than regular rubber boots. Something like hip waders.

So off I went to the local sporting goods store, in search of. No luck, but no worries. I was staying overnight in Gdańsk because of my early morning flight, so I would just leave Słupsk a bit earlier and stop at a sporting goods store along the way.

Tourists use the temporary boardwalk to avoid the high water in Piazzetta di San Marco.

There is a sporting goods store conveniently located on the way to the hotel, so we stopped there. No hip waders there.

Not knowing where any other sporting goods stores are in Gdańsk, we checked into the hotel and did a google search. We found three other stores, two of which were in a shopping mall quite close to the hotel. So, thinking our chances were pretty good ~ at least one of the stores should have hip waders, right? ~ off we went.

No luck.

It was really busy, even for a Saturday night. Maybe the beginning of the Christmas shopping season? The heavy holiday traffic meant it took us over 30 minutes to exit the mall parking lot. By then, I was toast. The other store was in the opposite direction from the hotel, so I was tempted to give up.

I checked for an update from David in Venice: not good. Off we went to the fourth store.

The fourth store was the one ~ success.

Finally, at the fourth store, success. Hip waders purchased, we went back to the hotel so I could figure out how to fit them in my suitcase.

Nighttime in Piazza San Marco during acqua alta (high water). The bright blue and bright orange leggings are cheap waders available to tourists when they arrive. Definitely cheaper than my hip waders but, as it turned out, not tall enough.

The adventure: getting to the hotel

To get to my hotel I had to wade the length (580 ft) of Piazza San Marco (the lowest point in Venice) where the water was over my knees. I’m glad I persevered in my quest for hip waders.

There were no hip waders for my suitcase, though. And, since my suitcase isn’t watertight, I resorted to carrying it on my head. 580 ft may not seem very far but with the suitcase on my head, it felt like at least a mile. I would be a poor sherpa.

This is where the picture of me in my hip waders with my suitcase on my head should go. Sadly, I don’t have that picture.

As I was wading through the water, I really wanted to have a picture taken. But there was no way I could hold the suitcase and take a selfie. I couldn’t get anyone’s attention ~ people wouldn’t make eye contact (maybe they were afraid I’d ask for help carrying the suitcase?) ~ so you’ll just have to imagine the scene.

The cheap waders come in a variety of colors.
These balusters were broken by the gondolas during the acqua alta (high water). I missed the worst flooding but the aftereffects were everywhere.
The winged lion (Lion of St. Mark) is the traditional symbol of Venice…
…but maybe this updated version of The Mona Lisa would be more appropriate.
The Piazzetta di San Marco, which connects the Piazza San Marco to the Venetian lagoon, is beautiful in the morning sun and low tide.
Venice is a photographer’s paradise: everyone is taking photos and everyone expects to be photographed. Some make photos of more traditional subjects, such as the Doge’s Palace here…
…and some take a more modern approach.

Cicchetti and fine dining in Venice

We were well-fed during the workshop. Venice is quite touristy, but there are many high-quality, (mostly) locally-owned restaurants for the discerning diner. Fortunately, David is a discerning diner and the restaurants were very well chosen.

Over the course of the week, we had seafood, lasagne, pizza, grilled lamb, gnocchi and a cabbage salad as big as a hat, to name some of the treats. And dessert. Scrumptious desserts. The most chocolate-y dessert was always my choice.

Cicchetti: the Venetian “small snack”

Lunches were a more informal event because everyone had the option of forgoing lunch if their photography muse was calling. Or, in my case, if the sun finally came out again.

Cicchetti: the Venetians call their small snacks “cicchetti.” Cicchetti are small slices of bread topped with a variety of yummy things: cheese, meats, seafood, veggies, etc. Like Spanish tapas, multiple cicchetti can make a meal and are perfect to share amongst friends. The bar right next to our hotel served delicious cicchetti and we had lunch there several times.

Canaletto, Venice and me

I’ve wanted to go to Venice ever since I first saw paintings by Canaletto (real name: Giovanni Antonio Canal). He lived during the 18th century and was renowned as a painter of city views (vedute, in Italian).

Trivia: Canaletto’s connection to Poland

Canaletto trained his nephew, Bernardo Bellotto, to also be a painter of city views. Bellotto worked in Germany and Poland, where he also called himself “Canaletto.” His paintings of Warsaw, completed 1770–1780, were used to help reconstruct the city after it’s near-complete destruction during World War II.  

His (the original Canaletto) paintings were quite large. An example of one of his paintings of Venice, below, is 140.5 cm tall x 204 cm wide (55.3 in wide x 80.3” wide).

Grand Canal, Looking East from the Campo San Vio by Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal); ca. 1723–1724. Public domain from Wikipedia.
The Grand Canal as I saw it from the Rialto bridge. Inspiration by Canaletto.
The Grand Canal is a working “street.” In addition to the tourist-laden gondolas, workers, deliveries and daily “bus” traffic occur constantly.
The prow of each gondola has the same metal decoration. The design of the metal prow references the Grand Canal, the six districts of Venice, the island of Giudecca, the doge’s cap and the Rialto Bridge. Whew. That’s a lot of symbolism to cram into one design. This site has a good diagram of all the elements and their inspiration.
Gondolas and the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute in the morning sun.
A sporty day in Venice. It was overcast most of my week in Venice, so some of my photos work better in black and white than in color.
Gondolas awaiting passengers.
Not all gondoliers wear the stereotypical hat and striped shirt. But many do talk on the phone while working.

The workshop

This workshop was about more than photography, it was a mentoring workshop. It was a small group ~ five participants in total ~ plus David and his wife (an excellent photographer in her own right). The premise was that each participant would decide on a theme for the week and then present 12 photographs based on that theme to the group.

We each worked one-on-one with David, discussing our ideas, strategies and tactics for creating our 12 photographs. What we did not do, however, was go out and shoot with him or with each other.

My 12 photos of Venice

I decided to work with the idea of silhouetted people, in color, in the vicinity of Piazza San Marco. We had sunshine for the first day of the week, so my project got off to a great start. However, if I had known that the rest of the week would be cloudy, save for a few hours on Friday morning, I probably would’ve chosen a different theme.

Here are 11 of my 12 photos. The 12th photo has a clearly recognizable face and I’m not comfortable posting a photo like that on the internet, so, I’m leaving it out. And, truth be told, I think it’s the least of the 12. But the remaining 11 work nicely.

A gondolier prepares his gondolas for the day.
Acqua alta (high water) in the Piazza San Marco just after sunset.
Avoiding the high water in the Piazza San Marco
Evening, Piazza San Marco
Talking photos of pigeons in the Piazza San Marco
A vendor in the Piazzetta di San Marco
Mother, child and balloon, Piazza San Marco
Sun, wind and rain, Piazzetta di San Marco
Piazzetta di San Marco as high tide begins
Reflection
Sunset, Piazzetta di San Marco

Lessons learned

  1. I need to get a lot more comfortable getting a lot closer to people in order to make better photographs. 
  2. Our projects were organized thematically/compositionally, not around a loose narrative like my blog posts. This was a different way for me to think about telling a story/creating a body of work. It’s an interesting way and I will pursue it in future work.
  3. Having a more experienced photographer critique my photos was welcome. It’s so easy to get lost inside your own work that it can be difficult to make progress.
  4. In addition to being a renowned photographer, David is also a successful author and businessman. I enjoyed talking with him about running a creative business and branding. He had good suggestions about branding in particular.
  5. Venice is wonderful and I can’t wait to go back, this time with Rosemary. Flooding or no flooding.

Parting thought

Six different photographers all spent the same week in the same city and everyone’s final presentation was different. It was fun to see how everyone sees the same place in their own way.

It’s also a good reminder that when I think a scene offers nothing to photograph, certainly someone else could find something. So I should just look closer.

Parting shot

The Piazza San Marco, water-free, at night.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jeff Lueken says

    04-Dec-2019 at 15:15:57

    Thanks for taking us on all of your adventures. These are all excellent pictures – I especially like “Gondola Waiting for Passengers.”

    • Scott says

      04-Dec-2019 at 16:21:57

      👍😊

  2. Karen Clayton says

    04-Dec-2019 at 17:04:12

    I can picture you with your luggage on your head wading across the Piazza San Marco. Funny and well worth your efforts. Your photos are beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
    I was involved in a massive snowball fight in the piazza San Marco in the 70’s. No photo evidence available.
    .Karen

    • Scott says

      04-Dec-2019 at 17:06:10

      A snowball fight in the Piazza; that sounds like fun 🙂

  3. hilda walter says

    04-Dec-2019 at 20:06:53

    Scott! Great photos, I really enjoyed your narrative! Danny and I were there at the opposite time, June… super warm with no rain. I enjoyed picturing your experience juxtaposed to ours. I know you and Rosemary will have an excellent time when you visit again.

  4. Rebecca says

    05-Dec-2019 at 16:18:14

    Scott: The eye candy! Too many to choose favorites, but I was drawn to the gondolier at sunrise, the gondolas awaiting passengers and the lovely composition of the lit stairway and the gondolier on his cell! I’m so happy you got to go, but what a crazy thing to experience! We had rain throughout our trip but dodged flooding. If I can get my pix on Google I’ll send a link! Italy is amazing. Thanks for sharing, and happy holidays to you and Rosemary.

    • Scott says

      05-Dec-2019 at 17:51:00

      Please do share your pix and other trip deets ~ your favorite place visited, best pizza, best bottle of wine, etc. 😊

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