October 14, 2011

Secret Venice – in pictures

Real Venice, a photography exhibition, opened at Somerset House in London this week. Fourteen artists were asked to create original images, capturing the beauty of the city, as well as the ravages of mass tourism The exhibition runs until 11 December

real venice: Hiroshi Watanabe 'Marta Marchi as Strega' — Marta Marchi as Strega. "Venetian people love Venice and they are proud of their city. But I sensed they are not perfectly happy with what is going on with the city," says photographer Hiroshi Watanabe. He used masks – meant to both reveal and disguise – to depict the uneasy relationship Venetians have with their foreign guests – resentful but wholly dependent Photograph: Hiroshi Watanabe

Real Venice: Isola di San Michele — Finnish photographer Tiina Itkonen is more used to photographing vast landscapes of snow and ice, hence her use of panoramas. This was taken on Isola di San Michele, an island in the Venetian Lagoon which became a cemetery under French occupation in 1807 when burial on the mainland was decreed unsanitary Photograph: Tiina Itkonen

Real Venice: Teatro Goldoni — Teatro Goldoni, one of the city's major theatres/opera houses Photograph: Tiina Itkonen

Real Venice: The Dorsoduro by night — The Dorsoduro district by night Photograph: Tiina Itkonen

Real Venice: Venetian Aprons — "I photographed a superficial, glossy Venice, one of artifice and facade, making, I hope, for a more accurate reflection of today’s Venice than those generic pictures of reflections of crumbling palazzos in canal waters," says photographer Robert Walker, who is known for his vibrant colour studies of Times Square Photograph: Robert Walker

Real Venice: Venetian Apron Suite 10 — A Coca-Cola sign drowns out anything its neighbour, the Bridge of Sighs, might have to offer Photograph: Robert Walker

Real Venice: Riva degli Schiavoni — Riva degli Schiavoni. For Italian photographer Mimmo Jodice, Venice is so naturally photogenic that an oversimplistic "image" of the city has developed. He has therefore turned to a 19th-century limitation of photography for inspiration – long exposures which efface people and objects in movement. Photograph: Mimmo Jodice

Real Venice: Rialto. From the series Venice — The Rialto Photograph: Mimmo Jodice

Real Venice: Fondaco dei Turchi — Fondaco dei Turchi (The Turks' Inn), a Veneto-Byzantine style palazzo on the Grand Canal Photograph: Mimmo Jodice

Real Venice: Charlotte — In considering his focus in Venice, Pierre Gonnord opted to study the terrain of the face. He found his subjects all over the city, searching for "interesting physiognomy, gaze, sensibility, intelligence, and loneliness". You’d be forgiven for believing that this Charlotte was Venetian, but she’s actually a young tourist from Australia Photograph: Pierre Gonnord

Real Venice: Attia — Attia, a young Lubavitcher Orthodox Jew in the Ghetto, looks like he's stepped out of a Renaissance painting Photograph: Pierre Gonnord

Real Venice: Teatro La Fenice di Venezia — Tragic loss and glorious resurrection are at the heart of Candida Hofer's photographs. Teatro La Fenice di Venezia (Phoenix opera house) was rebuilt for the second time after it was destroyed by fire in 1996
Photograph: Candida Höfer/VG Bildkunst Photograph: Candida Höfer/VG Bildkunst, courtesy of Ben Brown Fine Arts

Real Venice: Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, interior — The sumptuous interior of the Teatro La Fenice di Venezia
Photograph: Candida Höfer/VG Bildkunst Photograph: Candida Höfer/VG Bildkunst, Bonn 2011, courtesy of Ben Brown Fine Arts

Real Venice: Dead Saints by Nan Goldin — Dead Saints. "Here my obsessions are easily satisfied; saints, cemeteries, palazzos, paintings on every surface. There are so many different ways to combine the details as to make infinite the possibilities of how to read one place, one floor, one palazzo...," says Nan Goldin Photograph: Nan Goldin

Real Venice: Fog, San Servolo — Fog, San Servolo Photograph: Nan Goldin

Real Venice: Leonardo with his Grandfather — Leonardo with his Grandfather. A boy bravely trying to measure up to the grandeur of noble ancestors in the Palazzo Papadopoli Photograph: Nan Goldin

Real Venice: Looking toward Venice from Mazzorbo — Looking toward Venice from Mazzorbo. "Turner’s supposed last words were 'The sun is God'. During a week-long stay in Venice this past January, I began to feel that way myself," says Philip-Lorca diCorcia Photograph: Philip-Lorca diCorcia

Real Venice: Luci by Philip-Lorca diCorcia — "I have already seen San Marco and most of the other destinations that have become so overwhelmed by tourism that they can be offensive, so I seek quieter quarters or venture out late at night," says diCorcia Photograph: Philip-Lorca diCorcia

Real Venice: Venice 2009 by Tim Parchikov — Tim Parchikov's work calls to mind the light from a cinema screen – a B-movie early-70s thriller along the lines of Who Saw Her Die?, where the action takes place in a small Venetian piazza by night Photograph: Tim Parchikov

Real Venice: Venice, 2007 by Tim Parchikov — Parchikov seems delighted by the business of ordinary life tucked away out of sight, by the parallel worlds of the Venetians. As critic Yuri Avvakumov notes about his work, key information is glimpsed but never completely revealed Photograph: Tim Parchikov

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