1912 SouthHampton 南安普敦 サウサンプトン

Southampton, 1912

A Venice Carnevale Portrait Inspired by Titanic

There is something hauntingly elegant about the fashions of 1912—a world poised between the splendour of the Edwardian age and the enormous changes that were about to reshape the twentieth century.

Photographed during the Venice Carnevale, Southampton, 1912 draws its inspiration from the visual world of Titanic: the refined passengers of the great transatlantic liners, dressed for departure at the beginning of a journey filled with anticipation.

The gentleman appears formal and reserved in black evening dress, white waistcoat, gloves and top hat, while his companion brings a softer elegance to the portrait. Her sweeping hat, feather, gloves, embroidered bodice and beautifully detailed beaded handbag evoke the elaborate fashions of the period. Together, they could almost be two passengers waiting on the quayside at Southampton, preparing to board one of the magnificent ocean liners of the age.

I deliberately photographed the couple against a deep, almost completely black background. Removed from the colourful spectacle normally associated with Carnevale, the costumes become the entire focus of the image. The darkness also gives the portrait a slightly cinematic quality—the figures seem to emerge from another era, illuminated for a brief moment before disappearing again into history.

What particularly attracted me to this costume was its sense of quiet storytelling. There is no mask and little theatrical extravagance. Instead, the transformation comes through posture, expression, clothing and detail. The gentleman gazes into the distance while the lady looks calmly towards the viewer, creating the impression that we have interrupted a private moment immediately before departure.

Knowing the historical associations of Southampton and 1912 inevitably changes the atmosphere. What initially appears to be a portrait of elegance and privilege acquires a subtle melancholy. We know, with more than a century of hindsight, what the name Titanic has come to represent.

Yet Southampton, 1912 is not intended as a recreation of particular characters from the film. Rather, it is a Carnevale interpretation of the world that Titanic brought so memorably to the screen—a world of ocean voyages, Edwardian elegance, impeccable manners and extraordinary clothes.

For a moment on the streets of Venice, two costumers stepped out of the twenty-first century.

And somewhere between Venice and Southampton, 1912 seemed to return.

The Venice Carnevale is not solely about masks. Local Italians and an increasing number of foreign costumers now prefer historical and non masked costumes or painted faces. During Carnevale, the whole Venice becomes a real life theatrical stage, and many of these non masked costumes carry deep perspectives...

The original portraits were done on the busy streets of Venice, against a dark grey wall and everything using natural lighting only.

This, is the real Venice Carnevale...