Reign of the Roses 玫瑰爭霸

The Rose Sisters, veterans at the Venice Carnevale and highly sought after by photographers...

They are always a crowd favourite at the Venice Carnevale and their pictures have appeared posters and brochures and even on vinegar bottles!

Their costumes are often very elaborate, and usually styled with a gothic and renaissance touch. I was told only 2 of them would be attending the Venice Carnevale this year, and the costumes will be Red Queens. Add to that my favourite Elizabethan collars. And I am tasked with making some portraits for my very beautiful and elegant German friends.

Inspiration for the photos came from the English Queens Mary and Elizabeth, and then I also thought of the movie Gladiator II, where they had the twin emperors Caracalla and Geta, who basically stole much of the show. So maybe Elizabeth and Mary, or Twin Queens....but in the end I settled for Reign of the Roses as the title for this photo series.

They have 3 variants of the same costume, a masked version, and 2 without masks - one with crowns (my personal favourite) and the other with hats. I am very lucky to be able to photograph all 3 variants of their costumes this year.

Queens with the Sacred Heart

Full mask costumes are always popular with everyone. That's the signature and essence of the Venice Carnevale. However, they are difficult to put on and wear for prolonged periods. One's side vision is often impaired and care has to be taken especially when going up and down the stairs or many bridges. Hearing is also often impaired. So the full masked costumers are not exactly having the best time. They spend months if not years designing and making their own costumes. Often it becomes an artform as well as an addiction. The hobby of designing, making and wearing the masks and costumessoon becomes a dedication and an obsession. The costumers come back to the Carnevale every year, with the costumes getting better each year.

This year,Mona and Annette's signature red velvet costumes are heavily embroided and laced with gold. They carry with them the Sacred Heart. The Sacred Heart is often depicted in Christian art as a flaming heart shining with divine light, pierced by the lance-wound, encircled by the crown of thorns, surmounted by a cross, and bleeding. The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Latin: Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind".

Spanish Monarchs

I always love costumes with crowns and Elizabethan collars. So I am absolutely thrilled to see Mona Rose's big red Elizabethan collar with all its pearly beads. The Rose Sisters truly look like Queens walking out of a historical movie set. It reminds me of Mary and Elizabeth, although Mona says it's really Spanish Renaissance.

Spanish Renaissance

The hat version gives a slightly lighter mood to the costumes. Mona says the inspiration of the costumes come from the Spanish Renaissance period.

The Spanish Renaissance was a movement in Spain, emerging from the Italian Renaissance in Italy during the 14th century, that spread to Spain during the 15th and 16th centuries.

This new focus in art, literature, quotes and science inspired by the Greco-Roman tradition of Classical antiquity, received a major impulse from several events in 1492:

• Unification of the longed-for Christian kingdom with the definitive taking of Granada, the last Islamic controlled territory in the Iberian Peninsula, and the successive expulsions of thousands of Muslim and Jewish believers,

• The official discovery of the western hemisphere, the Americas,

• The publication of the first grammar of a vernacular European language in print, the Gramática (Grammar) by Antonio de Nebrija.

To a certain extent, the photographs are done to bear some similarities to the oil paintings of the Renaissance period, with the cloudy black/ brown background.

And as usual, the portraits are just done on the busy streets of Venice and using natural lighting only...

The Venice Carnevale is not solely about masks. Local Italians 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...