— Chapter II of XIII —

Venezia

Venice at three hours. A back canal in late afternoon — a gondolier coasting, a stone bridge waiting. The Grand Canal at civil twilight, under the Lion of Saint Mark. And the palazzi at sundown, when the sky and the water finally agree on a color.

Venice · 3 Photographs
A narrow back canal in Venice in the late afternoon, with a gondolier in the distance and a stone bridge ahead
No. 01 · Chapter II · Italia

A Back Canal

Castello · Venezia

Late afternoon. Off the spine of the city, three turns from any tourist map. The gondolier is not singing — he is on his way home, coasting. A second gondola waits, prow tied to a yellow-tipped mooring pole; a stranger's hand is resting on it. — Photographer's Note

"The whole place is great and grave and indolent and bright."

— Henry James · Italian Hours · 1909

7 Jul 2018 · 16:40  ·  Canon EOS 5D Mark IV  ·  EF 16–35mm f/2.8L II  ·  35mm  ·  f/5.6  ·  1/160s  ·  ISO 100

Sestiere di Castello · Venezia 45.4374° N · 12.3494° E
View on Maps ↗
View next →
The Grand Canal at civil twilight, with the Italian flag and Venetian flag of the winged lion in the foreground
No. 02 · Chapter II · Italia

The Wingéd Lion

The Grand Canal · looking toward the Pescheria · Venezia

Nine-twenty in the evening, the long Venetian summer twilight. The Italian tricolor flies beside the gold-on-red Lion of Saint Mark — the city's emblem since the ninth century, still claiming the sky a thousand years on. Across the canal, the Fabbriche Nuove di Rialto. Below, the gondolas have been put to bed for the night. — Photographer's Note

"I saw from out the wave her structures rise
as from the stroke of the enchanter's wand."

— Lord Byron · Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto IV · 1818

7 Jul 2018 · 21:23  ·  Canon EOS 5D Mark IV  ·  EF 16–35mm f/2.8L II  ·  35mm  ·  f/7.1  ·  1/400s  ·  ISO 125

Grand Canal · Rialto · Venezia 45.4404° N · 12.3358° E
View on Maps ↗
View next →
The Grand Canal at sundown, with palazzi catching the last light and reflecting in still water
No. 03 · Chapter II · Italia

Watermark

The Grand Canal at sundown · Venezia

The hour when Venice and her reflection are the same color. The palazzi catch the last of the sun on their façades; the canal returns it twice — once in shimmer, once in shape. Joseph Brodsky was right: the city does not so much sit on the water as borrow it. — Photographer's Note

"Water equals time and provides beauty with its double."

— Joseph Brodsky · Watermark · 1992

Sat 7 Jul 2018 · 21:05  ·  Apple iPhone 7 Plus  ·  Wide Camera  ·  28mm  ·  f/1.8  ·  1/100s  ·  ISO 32

Canal Grande · Cannaregio · Venezia 45.4413° N · 12.3331° E
View on Maps ↗
View next →
— Next Chapter —
Tuscany →
Chapter III of XIII
← All Chapters