Dream of Venice in Black and White

4th September 2018

Dream of Venice in Black and White – introduction by Tiziano Scarpa, edited by JoAnn Locktov.

Dream of Venice in Black and White is a beautifully produced coffee table book, dedicated to photographer Gianni Berengo Gardin who, over the years, has captured the essence of the city in his work. Over the last few weeks I have been watching early images selected from the book trickling out across Social Media, both Twitter and Facebook and they have been tantalisingly beautiful!

The book opens with a short, thought-provoking treatise on that all too vexing subject of ‘the tourist‘ in the city. Tiziano Scarpa broods on the phenomenon of tourism. There are only 50,000 regular residents now in the city and in essence ‘the real inhabitants of Venice are the tourists’. 30 million people are hosted annually in the city (that is the equivalent, give or take, of the population of Greece!). Such a stunning city will, of course, continue to attract visitors and the big question must be how to best manage and accommodate the influx (author Gregory Dowling wrote a superb piece for us about this very subject, Venice, not only Disneyland). The term tourist perhaps a misnomer and reframing the word as temporary resident, people who delight today in following in the footsteps of past inhabitants, traversing the very flagstones laid down centuries ago, observing the scenes that are redolent of history and previous occupants of the city.

© Mark Lindsay, 2012, The Fishmonger

Venice stands on the largest wetland in the Mediterranean, a lagoon that is a delicately balanced ecosystem and the advent of the large cruise ships may bring increased footfall (and concomitant trade and income) but pollution from the puffing funnels is becoming a significant factor.

© Robynne Limoges, 2017, Venice Dreaming

© Andy Parker, 2010, Reflected Bell Tower

Venice is a city that has to keep reinventing itself. When trade dwindled 500 years ago, it turned its focus to the arts and now tourism is at the core of commerce. But it is not an easy relationship. There are now too few permanent residents to really determine where the future of this wonderful – and blighted – city might lie.

A thought provoking book, with stunning images. This book is a must for anyone who loves Venice.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will go to support the Ikona Gallery on the Campo del Ghetto. Its founder, Živa Kraus, says that In 2009 the Ikona Gallery celebrated its 30th anniversary in Venice with the Gianni Berengo Gardin exhibition. To this day, he chooses to offer the city and its visitors the chance to behold meaningful images written in photography.

Do follow Dream of Venice on both Facebook and Twitter (Twitter is hosted by JoAnn Locktov, the editor )where you will find the most fabulous imagery of Venice.

We will be offering a copy of the book in a giveaway on 9th September, so do keep your eyes peeled for that one!

And do come and join team TripFiction on Social Media:

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