Antonia Jo: Venice Carnevale

I was lucky to have experienced Carnevale in Venice back in the late '80's. Rio may have the spectacle and New Orleans may have the party, but Venice has the exquisite setting and the posers in costume. The scenes seem unreal, like a set from a movie. Unfortunately for me, I arrived at night and didn't have flash on my beloved Olympus OM1 camera, so I have no photographic record of my trip.

I had been studying fashion and art for the semester at Polimoda Institute in Florence, Italy. A group of us decided to take the train up to Venice. The train that we had to transfer to was part of the experience: it was so packed--and it was Italy after all--so we grabbed the smaller people in our group and threw them up through the windows where they laid across the seats to save them for us. When we arrived in Venice and stepped out of the train it was like we had arrived in another world and time.

I have one extremely vivid visual that I will never forget: If you have ever been to Venice, you know it is easy to get lost in the labyrinth of the streets and alleys. To get to Piazza San Marco--where most of the action is--you wind over ancient bridges and through tunnels and winding streets. Since we arrived at night and it was late February it was chilly and misty. I was lagging behind our group, which was completely lost, distracted and overwhelmed by all the visual stimuli. I saw a movement and stopped to look. Someone in a dramatic medieval costume with a rich black cape and a white mask was posing under one of the bridges as the fog rolled by him. It was so surreal I felt like I was in a black and white movie.

These photos are all from Flickr. I posted the names of the photographers underneath their pictures. One day I will return with camera in hand and post my own set.