Venice is a laundry Heaven. I haven’t been to Burano (yet) but 8 and a half hours in Venice were packed with sights of laundry’s clotheslines hanging out from almost every window. The warm weather at the end of September was perfect for the clothes to dry. Some people were peeping out the windows, looking at me suspiciously, some closed the windows or hid behind the shutters. Overall, I found myself looking up, searching for clotheslines and colorful clothes to dry.
“…Life is a carnival, you need to go on all the rides..”
Venice, Italy September 2011
I’ve spent only few hours in Venice and yet, manage to shoot so much in such a short time.
It seems that almost every other store in Venice sells these special masks and costumes for the well known Carnival of Venice, but CaDel Sol is one of the biggest one with a great variety. Stepping into this store is like stepping into a candy shop when you are five years old and you don’t know what to look for at first, and you don’t know what to choose. It really made me curious more about the Carnival. I haven’t been yet to a Venetian Carnival but this is definitely something on my ‘to do’ list one day.
And yes, Life is a Carnival. Not necessarily a Venetian one. And if we do tend to see our Life that way, so be better need to go on all the rides and not forget to enjoy them.
“Travel is like love, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end”
Giardini di Boboli, Florence, September 2011
One of my weekend morning in Florence was spent by walking in Giardini di Boboli, a breathtaking garden located just a block away from the place I was staying in. This beautiful oasis labyrinth is one of many treasures Florence has to offer to its visitors and residents. There are so many hidden gems and hidden locations in the gardens that one morning or one stroll were definitely not enough.
If Love heightens our state of awareness, then the same goes for Photography. Same goes for Travel.
As a photographer I must keep ‘practicing’ awareness to what is around me, so I can keep capturing eye-opener shots. Same with Love and Travel…I must keep ‘practicing’ awareness to keep capturing eye-opener experiences.
It is not so hard to locate and find laundry in Florence. I was staying in Via del Campuccio street in Florence, a walking distance from all the places to see and visit in Florence. I must say that a friend of mine, who visited Florence a week before, told me he hardly if ever saw laundry hung outside the windows. Boy, he was wrong. Laundry is almost in every window. I didn’t come across clotheslines reached across buildings or hung over alleys, as I saw in Venice, but laundry could be easily seen. The combination of the yellow colored brick walls with the green shutters and the vivid colors of the clothes, made it all so unique and beautiful. A celebration to the eyes.
Drinking Italian coffee first thing in the morning, Running up the hills of Florence just to see the city waking up soaked in a morning dew, Piazzale Michelangelo, cutting lines in Galleria Uffizi, the old Synagogue in Via Farini. Temptation to have a snack at the Tripe and Lampredotto food vendors. Santa Croce’s busy courtyard. The Towers of the Donati, the Academia at Via Ricasoli, only 4 euros to see the Masterpiece of David. Sneaking photos of David when the museum guard turns around.
Yellow Buildings, Green Blinds, Red Wine and Blue Cheese. Ricotta Cheese and Figs for Lunch. Chocolate and Ice cream for Dinner.
Gucci, Pucci, Salvatore Fergamanno, Gianfranco Ferre and Sergio Rossi. Via de Tornabuoni, Money and Beauty exhibit, Men in suits riding their Bikes. Socks at Emillio Cavalini, Coffee cream at Caffe Scudieri, another round of chocolate ice cream. Piazza San Lorenzo Markets, Piazza Del Repubblica, Palazzo Pitti. The Birth of Venus, the Primavera, Neptune statue in full glory. Narrow cobblestone alleys, Santo Spirito vibrant restaurants, watching the rooftops of Florence every morning. Coffee for two at the mythological Cafe Gilli, watching the sunset over Ponte Vecchio and drinking water from Fontana dello Sprone. Saturday afternoon stroll in Giardino di Boboli. Jazz music under the trees, Climbing 412 stairs up the tower of the Duomo for the sake of taking pictures. Feeding pigeons in San Marco square, walking everyday in Via Maffia, shooting tons of pictures and doing La Dolce Vita….Priceless!
“To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform”
Nassau, the Bahamas, June 2011
This picture always reminds me the Brazilian movie ‘City of God’. Not that I can compare between the two situations (as probably there is no room for comparison) but there was something in the teenagers fast energy, that reminds me the fast-moving energy in the movie I watched so many years ago, but still echos in my mind. The movie tells the story of two childhood friends who grew up in the same violent neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, but each of them took a different path; one became a photographer, the other a drug dealer.
I was watching these teenager boys goofing and playing around, throwing each other to the water time after time. I followed them with my camera as I wanted to grab their energy, not their attention. This image grabbed me immediately; the way they straighten their backs, they way they walk tall and the confident way they carrying themselves. They were walking like that till they got to the edge of the pier and then they jumped.
“As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn’t supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart-broken probably more than once and it’s harder every time. You’ll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You’ll fight with your best friend. You’ll blame a new love for things an old one did. You’ll cry because time is passing too fast, and you’ll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you’ve never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you’ll never get back”
Nassau, the Bahamas, June 2011
I was in the Bahamas for my birthday with one of my Gemini friends, who celebrates her birthday three days before me. Whereas her birthday was quite sunny and warm, the day of mine, was with some showers and thunderstorms. This image was taken a day or two before my birthday, I think. I was walking on the beach, debating what to shoot, what to drink or whether to have a swim or not. And then I saw these teenager-kids goofing around. Throwing each other to the water, swimming back to shore, stepping back to the pier and doing it again. I decided to follow them with my camera and catch their great-young and restlessness energy. I couldn’t ignore the happy expression on this kid’s face and his inviting gesture. Do you think I jumped too?
To be honest, I don’t have a lot to say about Nassau in the Bahamas.
I arrived here few days ago with my friend Sharyn to celebrate our birthdays on the island. For the last two years or three we celebrated our Birthdays together in one of the rooftops in Manhattan, inviting our friends to have a drink or two with us.
But this year we both felt we want to avoid the city drama, and we got too bored with standing behind velvet ropes, so we have decided to have a destination Birthday and escape. We escaped a tiny, crowded, hectic island (Manhattan) and replaced it with a relaxed, slow paced, scattered one (The Bahamas).
I’ve wanted to visit the Bahamas for a while now, but only now I got the chance. It was quite a last minute thing, as we found a sweet deal and we decided to roll with it. We knew there might be a chance of a storm, but at the same time we knew we could see all different shades of blue colors so it was worth it. Besides, June rain and storms can happen in New York as well, so why not to go to THE Bahamas.
I can’t consider myself as the type who enjoys sitting in the sun all day doing nothing, and I am getting bored if the scenarios in front of my eyes hardly change. I know a vacation for me with a capital V, will never contains only palm trees and hammocks, because I need more than that. Don’t get me wrong, I am having a marvelous time, but since not a lot of sight seeing for a beach vacation, so not a lot to write about in this post.
Therefore I’d rather just stare at these calming, colorful images I took (it was before I fell and scratched the inside of my palms) and these endless shades of blue.
As much as the island is colorful and relaxed during day time, at night it transforms into something else, something different, with vibrant colors and complete different energy.
Happy Birthday!
Solo Espresso Macchiato 3 times a day, extra shot on special occasions, Running every morning along the slow curve road, getting side tracked to run on the beach. Blue Stripes towels, 4 Hammocks and endless palm trees. Conch Salad, (they said it Aphrodisiac) Da Fish Fry, a very dominant Turquoise color and so many red flower trees. 4 Sunrises, 1 Sunset, and 1 Tropical Storm. Taking the Ferry to Paradise Island. Walking to the Atlantis. Getting bored at the Atlantis. Famous Rum Cake, even more famous Rum Liquor. Blue Skies, Sky Drink with extra Gin, Cuban Cigars on the Beach. Cable Beach. Pineapple, Mangos and Daiquiri shake for breakfast. One Canadian, One Israeli, Two Birthday Celebrations. One run too much, One Tan too much but too many Smiling faces… Priceless!
