Aphrodite 阿佛洛狄忒

Aphrodite is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretized Roman counterpart Venus, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. Her main festival was the Aphrodisia, which was celebrated annually in midsummer.

A major goddess in the Greek pantheon, Aphrodite featured prominently in ancient Greek literature. In Hesiod's Theogony, Aphrodite is born off the coast of Cythera from the foam (ἀφρός, aphrós) produced by Uranus's genitals, which his son Cronus had severed and thrown into the sea. In Homer's Iliad, however, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. In his Symposium, Plato asserts that these two origins actually belong to separate entities; Aphrodite Urania (a transcendent "Heavenly" Aphrodite) and Aphrodite Pandemos (Aphrodite common to "all the people"). The epithet Aphrodite Areia (the "Warlike") reveals her contrasting nature in ancient Greek religion. Aphrodite had many other epithets, each emphasizing a different aspect of the same goddess or used by a different local cult. Thus she was also known as Cytherea (Lady of Cythera) and Cypris (Lady of Cyprus), because both locations claimed to be the place of her birth.

In Greek mythology, Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, the god of fire, blacksmiths and metalworking. Aphrodite was frequently unfaithful to him and had many lovers; in the Odyssey, she is caught in the act of adultery with Ares, the god of war. In the First Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, she seduces the mortal shepherd Anchises. Aphrodite was also the surrogate mother and lover of the mortal shepherd Adonis, who was killed by a wild boar. Along with Athena and Hera, Aphrodite was one of the three goddesses whose feud resulted in the beginning of the Trojan War and plays a major role throughout the Iliad. Aphrodite has been featured in Western art as a symbol of female beauty and has appeared in numerous works of Western literature. She is a major deity in modern Neopagan religions, including the Church of Aphrodite, Wicca, and Hellenism.

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and pleasure, is most closely associated with the zodiac sign Libra. Libra's symbol is the scales, representing balance and harmony, which aligns with Aphrodite's qualities and often the themes she embodies.

Celine Scholler is a French model who comes to the Venice Carnevale every year. She enjoys participating in the very fancy and grand balls during the Carnevale. These balls and parties are ultra lavish and often held at the grandest of all palaces. The balls often have a theme to them, a very different one each night. On this day, I think the theme has something to do with all the Greek Gods, Goddesses and Legends...I am lucky to photograph my beautiful friend in her very beautiful costume...

Many people think that these photos were done in a photo studio in Paris or Venice.

However, this small series of photos is actually done in the cold and on the busy streets in Venice. 2 minutes was all we had because it was really cold and the skies were turning dark....

This is a concept that I have been doing for quite a few years now... There is no indoor photo studio, there is no artificial lighting, flash or reflectors...With my costumed friends, we just take our street portraiture to an all new level....

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