Venice Italy street photography takes a different turn because you’re looking at a city of canals and bridges. A street might be all water or an alley without parking meters or traffic lights.
All photographs by Deborah Julian
Photography on the Streets of Venice
Venice is surprisingly remote, well off the beaten track.
It’s in a modern country, but walking in Venice feels like strolling on another planet.
Our first morning in Venice, we woke to the sound of footsteps outside. We heard conversations taking place on the street two floors below.
Yes, conversations, but not arguments. Conversations at normal volume.
Unlike New York, in Venice, you don’t need to ramp up the sound just to be heard.
More like this: The Fine Art Shop @ Assorted ideas
Venice, Out of the Past with Little Change
No one knows the full history of the city in the Adriatic lagoon, especially before its first church in 421 AD.
Historians assume that Italians fleeing the mainland after successive waves of invaders leading to the fall of Rome founded Venice.
The city you see between the canals was built on 118 islands. Many indistinguishable now for the buildings packed closely together at the water’s edge. Foundations rest on huge plates of limestone placed atop wood piles made of alder trees imported from Slovenia, centuries ago.
Not only is Venice gracefully beautiful, it’s one of the most ingenious engineering feats of ancient times, constructed before electricity, motorized vehicles or power tools.
It also has a way of seeming make-believe, sort of like a Disney World for history buffs.
Public Place: Venice, Italy, Street Photography
A startling fact, most tourists to Venice are in and out in a day or less, breezing through from a docked cruise ship and back in time for dinner.
To say you’ve seen Venice under those conditions is like saying you’ve seen a movie when all you sat through is a trailer.
Other than a glance at the ancient skyline from the cruise ship, the first taste most visitors get is of St. Mark’s Square, the communal and government center of Venice.
St. Mark’s is a mine full of picture-taking for anyone who visits. Tourists snap pictures of a square that never sees a car, where you can walk at will in whatever direction strikes your fancy and only worry about colliding with another visitor ambling freely.
Since this is a post about street photography, I’ll leave the sightseeing for others who do it better. You should know though that, if your interest is seeing the places of legend, as mine was the first time, you won’t be disappointed.
If anything, places like the Rialto Bridge are more vivid and fascinating when you are close enough to touch them. Give it at least a few days, though. Savor Venice if you can. It’s a walk around city. It reaches your senses in thrilling little waves of awareness.
It was on our second trip, this time staying with and taking walking tours with a friend who grew up in Venice, that exciting views of streets off the beaten path lead us to fascinating neighborhoods we never expected.
Venice Italy Street Photography
I’m an amateur when it comes to picture-taking. I’ll take a shot of anything that grabs my attention, even with nothing more professional than my iPhone. I take what I want to remember. Deborah Julian, however, is motivated by something else.
For her, photography is about vision and art.
The most unforgettable neighborhood I saw while being guided by our Venetian friend, Gabriella, was the old Jewish ghetto, a place few tourists hear about. Horrors that swept Europe somberly etched on the walls.
The plaza remains heartbreaking.
But the more routine neighborhoods remind you that ordinary people always have and still do lead ordinary lives along the unique streets of Venice.
Something you rarely see in New York these days are the once familiar scenes of laundry day. But you see sights like this one all over Italy. It’s especially visible in the cities where neighborhoods continue to thrive as they have for centuries.
In Naples, with its tightly packed side streets, you see
laundry drying in the sun. In Venice, the air filtering through the sheets, towels and undershirts is fresher, but the effect is the same.
It’s probably not much different than laundry day when Marco Polo invented bogus tales of Asian adventures or when Antonio Vivaldi composed his concertos for a church near the waterfront.
Venice Every Day
If you’re lucky, one day you will get to see Venice for yourself. I hope I’ve shown you that there’s a whole lot more than most tourists get to see and that it’s well worth setting aside some extra days to stroll around the Renaissance.
Find more of Deborah Julian’s Street Photography Here
More from Assorted Ideas, Large & Small
- Queens News and Community Updates Affecting Roosevelt Island ResidentsFor Roosevelt Island residents, Queens news and community updates are both close and relevant. From local incidents to new openings and street safety, see how city events shape our days.
- How Roosevelt Island Reflects New York’s Big Moments This WeekThis week, see how Roosevelt Island reflects New York’s big moments, from citywide sports wins and parades to local voting and youth programs.
- How Roosevelt Island Reflects a City on the MoveDiscover how Roosevelt Island reflects a city on the move, capturing the currents of New York through neighborhood routines, sports celebrations, and community moments.
- Keeping Steady Through City Currents: How Roosevelt Island Residents Stay ConnectedNew York’s shifting news often impacts daily routines on the island. Discover how Roosevelt Island residents stay connected through city changes and local events.
- Neighborhood Notes: Weekly Changes and Community Moments Across Roosevelt Island and BeyondNeighborhood notes on weekly changes and community moments across Roosevelt Island and neighboring areas, including emergency response, community events, new developments, and local reflections.
As the Dust Settles
The way the wind cuts across the river this time of year. The way older buildings hold heat but never quite hold air. I told myself that was why my chest felt tight again on certain mornings. Age, perhaps.
