My new assignment was to photographically investigate the lead actor of a movie that was been filmed on a greek ferry boat. I had 6 hours to find him and capture him -with my lens, of course… He was elusive, but when an experienced photographic investigator is presented with a similar situation, she just shoots silhouette. There were no instructions for the contrary, so everyone was happy.
“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air” wrote Emerson and this quote was my clue for finding my new subject. My mysterious employers love to be… mysterious, so I received this quote written in a piece a paper that was attached to the collar of an abandoned cat that knew how to find me. I was immediately intrigued because I have always been inspired by Emerson’s words. Living in the sunshine of divine love that flows trough us and around us, swimming the sea of human emotions, drinking the wild air of inspiration, pure Spirit.
I once bought a perfume in India, called "Night in Vrindavan". It was very exotic and "indian" -only those who have been to and loved India know what I mean- and it's name stayed with me for more than 25 years... I thought it had to do with some romantic notion, but I found out, by chance, that it had to do with the local belief that every night, in the Nidhivan forest, Lord Krishna appears, performing the divine dance with his consort, Radha. A really mystical, divine act that can't be witnessed by ordinary people, as it can drive them mad. Vrindavan is the childhood place of Lord Krishna, a holy place for the hindus. My subject was making open plans for a trip around the world and had just purchased some new clothes. Written in the label of the most beautiful blouse was the word "Vrindavan"... She told me that her first stop would be India. This subject had to be further studied, I thought to my self. To be continued...
This was his code name and I was supposed to photographically investigate him while passing by the infamous Bridge of Sighs in Venice. Ironically, the real Casanova had actually crossed that bridge. But then, Casanova was one of the very few that had managed to escape from the prisons of Venice... That should have made me a bit more careful and alert, but it didn't. So I ended up mesmerised by what was supposed to be the last sight the future prisoners had of the sky and the outside world -and what a world that was!- and my inner ear fell wide open to their sighs and their thoughts. "Ponte dei Sospiri" was the name given to it by Lord Byron, who, like me, was using Venice to escape from uncomfortable realities... There are no coincidences, I knew that, that's why, deep inside, I knew that my Casanova -like the real one- had already escaped, not because he fantasised or dreamed about it, but because it was the only thing to to.
The good thing about the states of mind (there are many bad ones as well, but I am not focusing on them) is that you can be in them whenever you want -which in the venetian state of mind case is constantly. A photographic investigator also knows that being constantly in a state of mind transports you physically to the place that this state of mind is connected with. Travel or relocation is a lot easier and faster this way.
It was June, I was in between jobs and a big ship was entering the laguna... Residents of the Hilton Molino Stucky were waiting for the Alilaguna shuttle to the airport, a couple of tourists was resting on a bench and what looked like a lonely man was passing by... Typical Giudecca afternoon... lots of things to investigate...
A photographic investigation in a parallel italian island-universe where every day is laundry day... everywhere. I was there to investigate laundries, obviously. Many of them go undetected by the untrained tourist eye... but they are lurking in the most unusual places as well as in the most obvious. An interesting quiz would be: "Try NOT to find the laundry".
The Vappa Light is essential to space and especially, time travel. It is the only known -to a very few, I assure you- way to cross great distances, not only interstellar and inter dimensional, but also emotional and psychic, in both space and time, without serious consequences. Not very serious anyway… Because time travel has always some consequences. The Vappa Light Drive has it's own will and only when it agrees with the will and the intentions of it's "user" something can happen. It can be approached in a few very distinct and very mystical places around the world and fate has led me to one of it's sources, following a tip about a job. It was a routine photographic investigation, but, what I did not know at the time was that I would be given the opportunity to "catch" my subject moments before a Vappa Light trip would take place. In the shots you can see the traveller girl bathing in it. A few moments later she disappeared.
There are many mystic places in Venice. Photographic Investigators prefer them because, let's face it, it's a mystic job… Mystic places have also a kind of magical effect on a photographic investigator's shots… they tend to speed up the process of the investigation. Also, they surround the investigator with a protective "bubble", which is also very appreciated because in this kind of work you need secrecy and discreteness. My favourite is the pizzeria "Alle Zattere", in Dorsoduro. It has a remarkable ability to attract my subjects so I can shoot them. This is very cool. So I seat there for coffee or lunch and they just come to me. And it makes the best pizza this photographic investigator has ever tasted. I am mostly a vegetarian, but I can never resist Alle Zattere's pizza con salsiccia & provolone… undoubtedly, a mystical experience. Here are some shots while I was waiting for my subjects, a beautiful morning Alle Zattere, with a very mystic "controluce", having a cappuccino…
