My first visit to Venice dates back 5 years. I can not say the emotion I felt then : after all, there is sometimes evidence against which we can not fight. I fell in love, deeply and madly, and without return.
My Venice is, I guess, very far from the usual clichés peddled on the city : it is a ghost city, shrouded by mist and silence, frozen in an eternal Winter. I especially love this season in Venice, when the fog makes buildings and bridges quite disappear. Early in the morning, the streets are almost empty of any human presence. The city then becomes, for a time, and very selfishly, my kingdom.Â
Thus, I’m never so happy as those November and December mornings when I walk alone through the streets of Canareggio, Dorsoduro, San Polo or Santa Croce, carrying my photo equipment on my back. I sometimes stop at the turn of a street or a bridge, looking for the best angle of view, preparing my tripod and camera for a long exposure. During the minutes of waiting, I smoke a cigarette in the bitter cold, enjoying the silence that is interrupted from time to time by the sound of a gondola coming out of the fog.
The encounters that I did in Venice over the years were often unexpected and quite magical. My best memory remains the encounter with the late Bruno Ganz, in the gardens of the Rezzonico Palazzio, on a warm winter morning. I still remember the bench where he was reading a manuscript, a black cat sitting by his side. The scene was quite unreal. I remember my hesitation to talk to him – he was and remains my favorite actor, and my admiration for him was boundless. I remember our conversation in my bad English, and then in French, about the city, litterature, movies, acting and so on. I remember the winter roses in the garden, the soft rain while we quit. I have memories of Venice for a lifetime.
Born in 1973 in Burgundy, France, Arnaud Bathiard is a fine-art photographer specializing in black and white seascapes/waterscapes. Passionate about traveling, he has a predilection for austere landscapes he often treats in a minimalist vein, using long exposure technique. From the distant Azores to Scotland, via Venice, France, Switzerland and Portugal, his journey often brings him back to the places he cherishes. His works have been exhibited in various places, including USA, France, Scotland, Italy and Thaïland.
