Just another street side portrait during the Venice Carnevale...
This year, a larger percentage of my costumed subjects are non-masked people, and most of them are local Italians.
The local Italians prefer painted faces and/ or historical costumes to full masks.
3 years ago, when the Venice Carnevale ended abruptly due to the arrival of the pandemic, but I remembered seeing 2 children in their famous Capodimonte costumes at the Cafe Florian. The costumes were so beautiful that till today, I am still unable to forget them. So, I started a search on social media to find the children and I asked my local Italian friends to help me locate them. After a few days, my friend Luca managed to find the boy's mother and connected me to her on social media. They are local Venetians. Initially my request was to photograph the original model Ricardo in his Capodimonte costume. But of course, I forgot children grow up quickly and Ricardo explained that he could no longer fit into his Capodimonte costume. (We did manage to find a replacement model for the Capodimonte costume - Leonardo, who has an absolutely charming personality and brought the costume to life in his very own way, but of course, that is another story altogether...)
Laura, the boy's mother explained that the family and their friends will be wearing traditional costumes on the 2 weekends of the Carnevale, so it will be a great opportunity for me to take some photographs of them. Ricardo is now 15, and speaks great English. We clicked on quickly. I suppose, the young boy is amused mum got an Asian photographer to take pictures of everyone this Carnevale.
We walked around town on the very crowded weekends, careful not to lose each other along the way, before the final stop of Cafe Florian for a hot chocolate.
The photo was taken at Campo Santa Maria Formosa and no, this is not Porta di Atilla. The backdrop is just some green wooden windows. The gaze of the young couple is simply amazing, just a simple candid and this is what we got! Sometimes, the simplest things are just the best and photos are so much better when you get to know your subjects a little bit better. Ricardo and family are 1 of the only 2 formal photo appointments I made in Venice this year, simply because my trip to Venice this year was a very last minute decision.
For those who are wondering....
The costumes are by famous Italian atelier Angelo Poretti.
And yes, they are a real couple...
So this is it, a very Venetian kind of Venice photo during Carnevale...