The shop of Aldo Strasse.

A funny stop during the Photo Tour in Castello!

Inside the shop of Aldo Strasse.

This is not just a second-hand-clothes shop, this is a piece of real Venice. Mr. Aldo Strasse owns this shop in Castello since 1973 and inside it's a melting pot of everything. With him, you can talk about photography too, he is very found of Leica, and he has a R4 in the closet behind him.

The shop of Aldo Strasse from outside.

Every time I see the door open, I pay a visit to him, it's always a nice moment of Venetian life! 

The third edition of the book "Venice on the edge of light", by Marc De Tollenaere

I am so found of this place that I also included a picture of him inside the third edition of my book "Venice on the edge of light"!

The first Leica Akademie Discovering Venice

The Leica Akademie in Venice!

Leica decided, some years ago, to do Photo Workshops in Venice. And I, as Leica Ambassador, have the honor to hold them! This was the very first one, in June 2014. Everybody was given a Leica M with some lenses and we had a very nice time going around some of the most beautiful and untouched corners of Venice! I prepared 3 Photo Tours, one for each day in Venice, and then we had some hours every day to discuss the result of each person attending the Leica Akademie.

The link to my website for Photo Tours in Venice

The Church of San Francesco della Vigna

Photo Tour in front of the Church of San Francesco della Vigna

These children were playing in front of the door of the Church of San Francesco della Vigna, in the district of Castello. One good thing about children is that you can follow them and, be sure, something interesting will happen! Leica M 240 with 28mm Elmarit. 1/250s f11 iso 800. May be you would like to know why I used iso 800, even though I was  not in an interior. The answer is simple: in street photography I normally use the "hyperfocal", which means that I set the focusing distance at 2mt, and then I colse the aperture at f/8 or f/11, and I know that whit a 28mm like in this particular case, everywhere I will point everything will be on focus starting from 1,2mt.

Children playing in San Francesco della Vigna

When the door is open, during a Photo Tour, I like to go inside this almost untouched corner of Venice, and see what happens.

In a very popular area of Venice, Castello, there is this almost untouched corner, behind the church of San Francesco della Vigna. The door is often closed, but when it's possible I like to go inside and see what happens. In this particular case there were some children playing near the bottom of the bell tower. Leica M240 with the 28mm Elmarit 2,8 asph. 1/60s f10, iso 400. 

Campo Ss.Giovanni and Paolo

Street photography in Venice!

There is a lot to say about there reliefs in Campo Ss. Giovanni e Paolo, and I normally like to tell the whole story during a Photo Tour. In that particular situation what surprised me was this child playing beyond the protection glass. Leica M240, 28mm f2,8 asph, 1/750s f6,8, iso 400. The fast shutter speed was helpful to freeze the moment, and f6,8 gave me more than enough depth of field.

Campo San Moisé

Street Photography on the canal!

A funny view on the canal, near Campo San Moisé. I decided to include the white stone in the middle, because I liked the geometry. Leica M240, 50mm Summicron f2,0, 1/8s f13 iso 800, on a Gitzo tripod. I used f13 in order to have a good depth of field.

Café in Campo San Luca

Catch the decisive moment and...

...keep your eyes open, while walking around in Venice!

A nice spot, while walking near Campo San Luca. What surprised me was the 4 blonde women wearing light colors, and the men wearing black. Leica M 240 with 28mm Asph 2,8, 1/250 f3,4, 1600 iso.

The blacksmiths of Carlo Scarpa!

The perfect place for a Photography workshop in Venice!

The environment in which the blacksmiths work is severe, dark, with spots of light coming from the high skylights, lying here and there on the machinery. 

One of the thing I like to do the most, during a Photo tour in Venice or even when I’m alone, it’s to get lost in the small streets, squares, or “fondamente” I’ve never saw before. This year I got an unique opportunity to find something special, thanks to the Association of Photography Marco Polo I founded three years ago. In fact, every year we give ourselves a photographic theme to work on, and this year we decided to focus strongly on Venice in order to discover one by one its Sestieri (in Venice the districts are called “Sestieri”, because they are six: Cannaregio, Dorsoduro, Santa Croce, San Polo, San Marco and Castello).

This year it’s about Cannaregio.

As you can see from the map, the Cannaregio district goes from the railway station as far as the bridge that leads into Campo SS. Giovanni e Paolo, therefore in this large area you can find some places invaded by turists, but also others places, more quiet and more popular. The “off the beaten track” are of course the areas I like the most, and during a recent walk along a lonely and sunny “Fondamenta”, my attention was drawn to a sign hanging on a door: "Quality Craftsmanship". So I immediately went inside to explore this slice of Venetian life I had never noticed before and I found the workshop of a blacksmith!

Or better, of two blacksmiths. In fact, Paolo and Francesco are two brothers, the youngest is now 74 years old. They started working here since the age of nine, the same age as, many years before, did their father Gino. The environment in which the blacksmiths work is severe, dark, with spots of light coming from the high skylights, lying here and there on the machinery. There are two big rooms. The first one is lower and above it, until the late 1800s there was a Murano glass beads deposit. The second room is higher, but with a careful eye you will note that the side walls have some walled windows. Originally it was not a laboratory, but a public small square! The floor still has the stones used to pave Calli, Campi and public Fondamente.

The walled windows belonged to the houses that, with their perimeters, now border the atelier of the blacksmiths. Unbelievable but true, you can still see the gutters that once were discharging rainwater in the small square, but now, since this was covered with a roof to obtain the laboratory, they lie unused, and no one has ever taken them away. Inside a so special place there will for sure be a surprise, and in fact I got to know that the two blacksmiths are specialized in the restoration of the architectural works of the famous Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa!

Years ago, working on a book concerning the Province of Treviso, published by Biblos, I photographed the famous Brion tomb of San Vito di Altivole, of Carlo Scarpa. It is a monumental complex with an adjoining church, where among other things, the architect himself was buried.

And here in Venice, in this place that sometimes seems to me the antechamber of Dante's hell, but instead it’s a really quiet place where time has stopped, someone is taking care of the operas of this famous architect. Other important work by Carlo Scarpa I saw been restored in the workshop come from the Foundation Querini Stampalia. All work are made by hand, one by one, starting from his original drawings!

The blacksmith of San Polo

Long exposure without a tripod with Leica SL.

The shutter of the Leica SL is so soft that allows you long exposure without a tripod.

Some workshops in Venice are very hidden and you can't even imagine that beyond a door you passed by hundreds of times you can find something funny like this one! Leica SL with Leica M 28mm 2,8 asph: 1/15s f5,6 iso 800. I know that the sensor of the Leica SL can easily work properly up to 6400iso, so I could take this picture at 1/60 f5,6, 6400iso, but the shutter is so soft (the Leica SL is a mirrorless) that you'll have no problems even with long shutter speeds. 

Biennale Art in the Arsenal

The empty area of the Arsenal, after the Biennale of Art.

What happens immediately before or after an event, is often more interesting than the event itself.

Every second year, during Summer and until mid november in Venice, the Biennale of Art takes place. One of the most interesting thing to do is to walk around this area when it's empty and to look for the remaining of the previous exhibition, you can often find creative vitamins for your pictures! Leica M 240, 28mm Elmarit asph 2,8, 1/90, f10, iso 800.

The strange bells of Castello

Framing the Venetians bells.

It's funny to see these bells during the Photo walk in Castello!

One of my Photo walks in the district of Castello passes in front of this strange bells and this ancient column you can see on the right side of the picture. It's always funny to see them, and I remember I took a picture of them for the first mime more than 10 years ago, for my first book on Venice: "Venice on the edge of light". Here, the goal is to take a picture of the subject (the bells, in this particular case), and something else together with, such as the nice column on the right. That will help you in making a correct and balanced frame. Leica M 240, 28mm Elmarit asph 2,8, 1/45, f6,8, iso 400.

Basketball court in Venice

The architectural photography in narrow spaces.

The magic area of Cannaregio, near Sant'Alvise.

The lack of space in Venice is of course a big problem! Not only the apartments are extremely expensive and in most cases very small, the public places are narrow too! But often the architectural photography gets creative vitamins out of narrow and crowded places. Leica 240 Elmarit 28mm f 2,8, 1/180, f 11, iso 800.

The workshop of Tintoretto

A portrait inside the workshop of Tintoretto.

What a surprise, when I found the workshop of the great Venetian painter Tintoretto!

Venice has always had a great tradition in typography, since the XV century. But what a surprise when I found this one in the former workshop of the great Venetian painter Tintoretto in Cannaregio! Here, the difficult thing as to take a portrait of the owner of this place, and I decided to put him in the middle of the workshop with all these things over his head. Leica M 240 with 28mm Elmarit f2,8. Final exposure at 1/6", f4.0, iso 800.

Ancient typography in Cannaregio.

The panoramic view in a Venetian interior.

In this particular case, the panoramic frame was very useful to capture the interior of this ancient typography.

In Venice there is always something new to discover! In this particular case, during a Photo Tour, I found this ancient typography near the Fondamente Nuove, where you get the public boat to Burano. I couldn't resist and I got inside (fortunately I had a tripod with me) with my Leica M and Elmarit 21mm. The final exposure was 6" f13 (in order to have a good depth of field) iso200.

The feast of Souls in the island of San Michele.

How to get the best result out of a very difficult light!

The interiors of palaces or churches in Venice are often offering a good opportunity for a great picture!

Venetians interiors are always giving me creative vitamins for a frame. In this particular case, I was in the Island of San Michele, and inside this small chapel I noticed the incredible light coming from the windows. The deal was to include the scene and the window themselves, so I use a wide angle such as the 28mm. Taken with a Leica M 240, 28mm Elmarit, 1/45s f6,8, iso 400. Of course the windows are over-exposed, because I decided to expose for the shadows, in order to give details in the interior.

The cloister of San Francesco della Vigna

What a pleasant and quiet hidden place! 

During a Private Photo Workshop in Venice, this is one of my favorite places to talk about composition and framing.

The cloister of San Francesco della Vigna is beside the Franciscan's church. It's a quiet, almost untouched Venetian corner. Especially during Summer, when outside it's very hot, it's nice to sit down here a little bit, so we can have a look at the pictures we took so far during the Photo Tour, and start to talk about composition. Picture taken with a Leica M 240, 28mm Elmarit f2,8: 1/60s f/8 iso 400.

The Photo Tour in the hidden courtyards of Venice.

In street photography, you should always look in any direction.

After so many years wondering around Venice, during a Photo Walk I still found untouched corners I never went inside before!

The good thing is that I learned how to speak Venetian. In this particular case, I was holding a Photo walk with a very nice couple and while we were walking around the district of Castello, I saw this vaporetto made by hand. I saw it from far, as it was in a private courtyard, and we went inside. The owner of this vaporetto was repairing some parts of it and I talked with him a little bit (in Venetian, of course). Then he was very proud when I told him that we would have liked to take a picture. Taken with Leica M 240, 28mm Elmarit f2,8; 1/15s f11, iso 200. In order to get a very good depht-of-field I closed the aperture at f11, and the very soft shutter of the Leica M240 allowed me to use a long shutter speed such as 1/15s without a tripod.