Venice in Northern Italy is one of the only cities that allows me the possibility to travel back in time. I travel to Venice at least four times a year. After falling for its old buildings, streets, and canals some time ago, I now try to portray the city’s hidden beauty and quietness through my camera.

Venice attracts many visitors each year, yet behind the crowds, there's a vulnerable aspect to the city, which is only visible to people who risk taking a closer look behind the dusty curtain of Venice. I am going beyond the tourist hot spots – that are the Piazza San Marco, San Giorgio Maggiore and Ponte di Rialto, – to reach the places I want to photograph. By documenting those lesser-known areas, I want to highlight how this wonderful city is facing an urgent threat: climate change. Mass tourism has not helped to stop the water from rising and flooding the streets of Venice. The water on which the city is built is trying to take control.

Besides all of Venice's beauty and fascination, I will return to Venice again and again, research more hidden places, and put the transformations occurring throughout the streets and canals in the spotlight to bring awareness of the urgent threat.

Venezia - La Serenissima

Famiglia arcobaleno

Creator

Ronny Behnert