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Dream of Venice in Black and White
Dream of Venice in Black and White reveals Venice as a narrative in chiaroscuro. Over 50 photographers from 10 countries have documented the city to create a visual legacy of elegant realism in light and shadow. The acclaimed Italian author Tiziano Scarpa contributes a poignant reflection of his life as a Venetian, experiencing “perpetual change.” His eloquent and candid Introduction exposes the complex issues that threaten the survival of Venice. Venice has had the audacity to exist as a living city for over 1,500 years. But for how much longer?
Dream of Venice in Black and White is dedicated to Gianni Berengo Gardin. His photographs, both captivating and controversial, have become intrinsic to Italy’s collective conscious.
A portion of the proceeds from each book will be donated to the Ikona Photo Gallery, located in Venice’s Ghetto Nuovo.
Dream of Venice in Black and White is dedicated to Gianni Berengo Gardin. His photographs, both captivating and controversial, have become intrinsic to Italy’s collective conscious.
A portion of the proceeds from each book will be donated to the Ikona Photo Gallery, located in Venice’s Ghetto Nuovo.
- GenresPhotography
96 pages, Hardcover
Published September 5, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 19, 2019
I was 19 when I first saw Venice. We had taken an overnight train from Vienna and arrived very early in the morning. Despite the fact that this was at the tail end of almost three months in India, where I had seen my fill of glorious wonders, nothing could have prepared me for my first glimpse of the fabled city. It was a blindingly bright September morning-- and I hadn't expected the Grand Canal to be there right outside the train station! Boarding a vaporetto, I sat there speechless. The city was shimmering like a vision from a dream. Church bells were peeling, heard above the din of the boats--there were churches wherever I looked-- and marble palaces, crumbling and facing the water with their boat landings jutting out toward colorfully striped landing poles. I vividly remember my heart racing as I looked around (not believing the place was real). A wonder of the world, he called it on the train from Vienna. And when I at last found my voice again, I asked, "Why don't we live here? Why does anyone live anywhere else?" He just laughed.
That was in 1990.
And I have not been back since.
The black and white photographs in Dream of Venice captures that dream I saw of Venice in 1990 (believe it or not, those were still in the days before mass tourism)…. The introduction asks, though, what it means to be a resident of the city. The author is of an old Venetian family— the kind that traces their ancestors back in time—always in the same place— for a thousand years. A native Venetian. And yet, there are 140 tourists for every native. The city is dying (see the extremely sobering book by Salvatore Settis, If Venice Dies). What does it mean when the residents are all in transit? Hit and run tourism?
I suppose the Venice I saw is nothing but a dream for me now… but what a dream!! That sinking city built atop what Scarpa wonderfully calls “an inverted forest” of millions of wooden planks that were driven into the lagoon to try and create terra firma…Amidst the high tides… in the book of black and white photographs there is a picture of the Piazza San Marco in the aqua Alta…. The piazza is shimmering under water. With its elegant arcades and columns, can’t that be where good Americans go to die? I know the people in the lagoon probably really want to be left alone. But lucky us that Tiziano Scarpa has written Venice is a Fish—a sensual guide that describes what the city looks like, sounds, like, feels like…. Its face, its arms, its smells! Oh, those marble shores, and the unmistakable sound of the SWOOSH of the pigeons in the piazza, the putting of the vaporetti, the church bells…. I wonder if Venice will forgive me going back just one more time?
That was in 1990.
And I have not been back since.
The black and white photographs in Dream of Venice captures that dream I saw of Venice in 1990 (believe it or not, those were still in the days before mass tourism)…. The introduction asks, though, what it means to be a resident of the city. The author is of an old Venetian family— the kind that traces their ancestors back in time—always in the same place— for a thousand years. A native Venetian. And yet, there are 140 tourists for every native. The city is dying (see the extremely sobering book by Salvatore Settis, If Venice Dies). What does it mean when the residents are all in transit? Hit and run tourism?
I suppose the Venice I saw is nothing but a dream for me now… but what a dream!! That sinking city built atop what Scarpa wonderfully calls “an inverted forest” of millions of wooden planks that were driven into the lagoon to try and create terra firma…Amidst the high tides… in the book of black and white photographs there is a picture of the Piazza San Marco in the aqua Alta…. The piazza is shimmering under water. With its elegant arcades and columns, can’t that be where good Americans go to die? I know the people in the lagoon probably really want to be left alone. But lucky us that Tiziano Scarpa has written Venice is a Fish—a sensual guide that describes what the city looks like, sounds, like, feels like…. Its face, its arms, its smells! Oh, those marble shores, and the unmistakable sound of the SWOOSH of the pigeons in the piazza, the putting of the vaporetti, the church bells…. I wonder if Venice will forgive me going back just one more time?
September 6, 2018
If you love Venice, you have to check out this book!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
October 20, 2018
Like any deeply moving experience in life, words can become inadequate. Such is my experience of moving through this dream, much like holding my heart when I enter Venice’s Piazza San Marco at nightfall.
But what I can share about Dream of Venice in Black and White is this.
While the beauty of this book is staggering from the minute one holds it in one’s hand, there is also something beautifully melancholic around its photographs and text. It is not a melancholy that draws me further, rather one that deepens my love for Venice and takes me into a more intimate view of the depth of her soul.
Dreams are composed of images. And while those images can be fleeting in memory, the emotions that they impart on us linger long after we awake. In this book, my emotions linger within me long after I turn each page. For this reason, I go very slowly through this dream, and with a certain reverence.
Because there is a certain magic that Venice will impart on those who embrace her as their muse, the photographs in this book have something to them unlike what we typically associate with photographs. Typically, there is a curiosity about the scene, a wondering of what is taking place, of who is in the photograph and such. While there is indeed a story to these photographs and to the people in them, for me the words are initially stripped away, as color is stripped away, and through the black and white there is a certain music that I feel. It is far more interesting and enchanting to linger in the experience of this glance without naming it. I do not know of any other books, besides the Dream of Venice series, for which this is true for me.
The soul in me, who is blessed to be able to every now and then return to this beloved city, gives many thanks to JoAnn Locktov, the gifted photographers, and Tiziano Scarpa for this experience. The Dream of Venice series, of which this is the third book, is a testament to the undying beauty, mystery, and lure of the city and how as long as there are those who remain curious about her, Venice will continue to reveal more and more of her story and her soul.
But what I can share about Dream of Venice in Black and White is this.
While the beauty of this book is staggering from the minute one holds it in one’s hand, there is also something beautifully melancholic around its photographs and text. It is not a melancholy that draws me further, rather one that deepens my love for Venice and takes me into a more intimate view of the depth of her soul.
Dreams are composed of images. And while those images can be fleeting in memory, the emotions that they impart on us linger long after we awake. In this book, my emotions linger within me long after I turn each page. For this reason, I go very slowly through this dream, and with a certain reverence.
Because there is a certain magic that Venice will impart on those who embrace her as their muse, the photographs in this book have something to them unlike what we typically associate with photographs. Typically, there is a curiosity about the scene, a wondering of what is taking place, of who is in the photograph and such. While there is indeed a story to these photographs and to the people in them, for me the words are initially stripped away, as color is stripped away, and through the black and white there is a certain music that I feel. It is far more interesting and enchanting to linger in the experience of this glance without naming it. I do not know of any other books, besides the Dream of Venice series, for which this is true for me.
The soul in me, who is blessed to be able to every now and then return to this beloved city, gives many thanks to JoAnn Locktov, the gifted photographers, and Tiziano Scarpa for this experience. The Dream of Venice series, of which this is the third book, is a testament to the undying beauty, mystery, and lure of the city and how as long as there are those who remain curious about her, Venice will continue to reveal more and more of her story and her soul.
March 9, 2019
My first photographic homage to the city I love, joining the several shelves full of Venetian histories, guides, and novels in my bookcases, 'Dream of Venice in Black and White' both surprised and moved me. The images range from the every-day to the joyful to the hauntingly beautiful, from the unexpected to the familiar, and the pages lay bare La Serenissima in the many facets of her glory. Interestingly, given the colour we know and expect in the usual photos of Venice, the black and white images reveal layers of the city which are normally 'hidden' by colour - a master stroke, in my opinion, in unveiling this beautiful city. I will never tire of losing myself in this book, and immersing myself in the images, if only for a few minutes - a real treasure.
October 22, 2019
A beautifully curated collection of evocative photos of Venice with an insightful introduction by Tiziano Scarpa who explores Venetians' place in today's Venice and Venice's place in the world. The spellbinding black and white photos elicit the feelings one has amongst her stones. They are mysterious, magical, otherworldly, and, of course, beautiful. Any lover of Venice, including those who dream of a sojourn in La Serenissima, should have this treasure in their home.
May 13, 2019
Dream of Venice in Black and White brings to mind the words of photographer Edward Weston, “I work in black and white to see through the color”. What we see “through the color” in this book are the physical and metaphysical building blocks of Venice’s beguiling atmosphere. In addition to the exquisite photos there are also words in this book not to be missed. The introduction by poet and novelist Tiziano Scarpa is not merely filler for a picture book. He poetically condenses Venice’s extraordinary history and its future challenges, somehow universalizing the messages, making them relevant to our own lives. Spending time with these pictures and words has left me with this feeling: that we need Venice in the same way we need wilderness. Both are places that invite a sense of reflection about life and timelessness. And both are places that need our defense.
This book can be enjoyed at one end of the spectrum as simply a beautiful thing open in your lap, and at the other end, a meditation open in your mind and heart.
This book can be enjoyed at one end of the spectrum as simply a beautiful thing open in your lap, and at the other end, a meditation open in your mind and heart.
October 9, 2019
Such beautiful images. I know I'll go back to them again and again.
September 7, 2018
A beautiful collection fof images of the most beautiful of cities.
December 22, 2020
This is the Venice of my first two trips, cool/cold wintery, even in real time everything seemed to be in black and white. Absolutely beautiful photos that made isolation a little more bearable.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews