Today we go to Venice for a transformation from snapshot to fine-art photo.
“You’ve seen the Venetian watergate entrances in previous articles, but this is a palazzo’s front door”
As with most all of Italy’s old towns, built when electricity and running water had not yet been conceived, electrical conduits in particular must be snaked along the outside of the buildings. Because of the Venetian water table, there are obviously no basements through which electrical lines could be routed. Thus, conduits are often visible being routed to places that their power is needed.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, my goal is to give you an Italy of the past, at the time of Michelangelo, Bellini, and others of the renaissance. Since you would not see electrical conduits at that time, you won’t see them in my photos. So, there!
You’ve seen the Venetian watergate entrances in previous articles, but this is a palazzo’s front door. It’s not all that picturesque, but maybe I can give it must a bit of charm. Let’s see.
Here is the original snapshot. It’s a bit crooked, as you can see. Also, it has those pesky electrical conduits, as well as in-the-street water valves. There is also a doorbell, mailbox and address placard that I would like to remove. I'll get right on that.
Below is the photo with the aforementioned items removed…as well as the straightening that was needed. You probably also noted that I’ve changed the door color to one of Michelangelo’s favorite Renaissance colors. I need to crop the photo to a traditional 8x10 aspect ratio.
Cropped, as promised. However, when I cropped it, that parapet running across the photo above the door just doesn’t do it for me. I’m thinking that you’d agree, right? So, my next task is to resolve that issue.
I hired some out-of-work gondoliers to raise that parapet to the top of the photo. Thank you Marco and Angelo.
Marco said, “Dovresti dare alla foto un po’ di patina veneziana”. So I did that next.
Then Mateo said, “Piu patina!”. So, I added a bit more patina. Below is the final transformation.
Who do you think built this palazzo? I’ve not idea, but it looks as though their initials were “LVB” — or maybe “L, upside-down A, B” — or maybe…see if you can figure it out. I have no idea, but this is the first above-the-door iron work that I’ve seen with initials embedded.
That’s one more Italian door snapshot transformed into my notion of a palazzo of times gone by. Next time I pass by this palazzo…and I surely plan to do that…I’ll ring the door bell to find out what that monogram depicts.
Until next time…
Ciao for now,
Steve