Blog

Venice Carnival – A photographer’s paradise

The Carnival , in beautiful and romantic Venice , is undoubtedly one of the most colourful , exciting festivals    in the world.   Every year  in February  the city comes together for two weeks of pageantry and fun which permeates the entire city and which culminates on Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Mardi Gras.

Dating back to the twelfth century,   the Carnival   is characterised by fantastic costumes and elaborate masks worn by thousands  of participants who travel from  all over the world to display their  costumes . They will have spent all year designing their  elaborate costumes  and masks with many  returning  year after year .

Venice,  with its  beautiful architecture, canals , smells and   colours , offers so many opportunities   to  both amateurs   and professional photographers,  and even more so during the Carnival.    The best time to photograph costumers  is at dawn in St Mark Square  where most  serious photographers will show up well  before dawn before the crowds have  gathered , and with the street lights as the only illumination.   Venice can be so cold at this time of the year but ,regardless of the temperature,  the costumers will already be in St Mark Square well before dawn waiting to be photographed  and ready to hand you their visiting cards with their photos and email address so that the photos can be emailed to them.

Later in the day it will be quite difficult to make a decent shot with the swarming crowds. 

The atmosphere  in Venice during the Carnival is simply  magical and  few days spent in Venice  joining in the  Carnival celebrations will leave anyone  uplifted !  You can walk the narrow streets at any time at night and you will always find revellers    wearing  their costumes and masks inviting anyone in the celebrations.