Segreti Veneziani
Opening (hero / hook) + Setting (January atmosphere)
„I segreti più segreti di Venezia sono quelli che si custodiscono da soli“ - Venice’s most important secrets are those that guard themselves.
Behind the tourist facades lies another city — one that remains inaccessible to outsiders that haven’t earned the trust of its gatekeepers. This retreat takes you there. In January, when the low winter sun provides gorgeous light all day casting long shadows across empty campi, when the fog softens the architecture into tone and silhouette. When the canals carry reflections that barely ripple. This is Venice at its most honest.
Thirty Years of Friendship (access story)
Our retreat is built on friendships with Venetians which have developed and grown for the better part of the last three decades. My relationship with the city began in the early 1990s, when the legendary Moro di Venezia carried Italy’s challenge for the America’s Cup. I came for the sailing. I stayed for the relationships and everything else. They have helped me countless times in gaining access and allowed me to photograph in places that would’ve remained closed without their support - and they’ll be doing that exclusively for our group as well. As we’ll be touring Venice with them and at their discretion we intentionally opt for an intimate group size of only 4-5 participants per year. At two tutors this translates into an atmosphere similar to that of a private coaching: providing the best possible and most intense learning experience for everyone involved.
Philosophy (our approach: cultural + emotional depth) + Promise
During our retreat we’ll focus on creativity, clarity and design thinking - from concept, through preparation, to curation. To us ‚slow’ is very much a skill. Therefore we’ll take significant time on location, allowing us to observe and understand, to revisit, and get a deeper, more meaningful connection to our surrounding. The intention: through us, you’ll learn how to see Venice differently.
We’ll guide you through bespoke sessions, specifically tailored to you, that’ll delve deep into the philosophy, theory and practice of photography and we’ll guide you through the creative process on location.
The two dimensions of Venice
Venice was built by the sea. Its power, its wealth, its identity — all of it came from the water. It being one of the wealthiest cities in history with an identity very much shaped by great craftsmanship also lead to some of the greatest masterpieces in arts and architecture.
Manuel’s view being shaped by his practice as an architectural photographer while my association comes through my nautical connection even the two of us have our own perspective on Venice. The architectural and the nautical: two lenses we’ll take full advantage of, providing you with unparalleled insights.
The Experience (the atmosphere)
Every day we’ll be starting early in the morning to get the best of the light before we find ourselves in an authentic café that’ll serve still warm cornetti that we’ll have already smelled when we opened the front door of our hotel - they come from our neighbor. From there: more photography and more superb food throughout the day.
We’ll be taking you to artisan workshops of masters of Venetian crafts as well as to squeros belonging to Venice’s oldest gondola builders where we’ll watch the squeraioli craft gondolas entirely by hand. Wood, water, geometry and centuries of knowledge. Starting with the gondola to the historic arsenale, Venice’s relationship with the sea is the thread that connects it all.
We’ll visit some of the oldest and most prestigious museums in history. At Galerie dell’Accademia we stand before renaissance masterpieces by Bellini, Titian and Canaletto. We study their perspective and compositional rigor, how they worked with light and shadow. This will be very much a working session aimed to further strengthen your visual storytelling and your understanding for composition and Venice.
Atmosphere + Practical Details
From fine photography and fine living all the way to fine dining everything will be very much focused on a top notch experience. We’ll eat where my Venetian friends eat — in restaurants and bacari that operate on reputation, not visibility. Over cicchetti and regional wines, the day’s images become the evening’s conversation. We’ll stay in an exclusive historic boutique hotel also owned and operated by dear friends of mine and located in the very heart of the city between the iconic San Marco Square and the Rialto bridge. And we’ll make sure you know a few shortcuts to best enjoy free time for you to soak in the city’s unique atmosphere and simply wander through the subtle mysteries of the city on your own.
Invitation / Promise (transformational experience + feeling of belonging)
It’ll be the in-depth experience to Venice that will transform your photographic practice and that’ll deepen your connection to the city, its history and your understanding of art. You’ll head home feeling like you belong. You’ll have found la Venezia dei Veneziani - the one that money won’t be able to buy.
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