Another Venice secret society, mysteriously linked to the infamous Mister circle... I was hired to investigate a series of crossings into alternate realities. My only clue was that there was always the appearance of a woman with a black hat and the existence of a strange 'bubble tunnel" through which everyone had to pass through. All I had to do was follow the Mister, that enigmatic figure that had introduced me to all kinds of secret groups and societies in mystical Venice. My report after this investigation: simply... inconclusive.
She was a fellow photographic investigator. It was obvious from the way she was trying to avoid my lens. Of course this is impossible. But she didn't know... I met her in the airport, as I was waiting my delayed Honolulu flight. Alohe oe, the beautiful song that the hawaiian queen Lili'uokalani had composed a long time ago, was in my ears and in my heart. Another unplanned photographic investigation... Until we meet again...
That morning I woke up in Venice and, the thought that I had received bad news the night before, didn't appear in my mind immediately. Those precious 10 seconds of freedom from the past gave me a kind of optimism... Maybe tomorrow they would be 15 or 20... My first impression was a song from my youth - from those years that for some reason always bring a feeling of carelessness and happiness, although you know that they weren't that careless nor that happy... But it was a good start. Another day in paradise was about to begin... All I had to do was to photographically investigate a beautiful young pianist who belonged to the mysterious Il Mister circle. And mysterious and reserved she was... I had to take extra precautions as I was warned about her extraordinary ability to manipulate everything and everyone while she was playing Chopin. I cannot reveal these precautions. They obviously worked though, because all that she played was Chopin...
She was being watched and she knew it... Ennio Morricone's mesmerising theme from an old french movie with Alain Delon, Jean Gabin and Lino Ventura was haunting the almost deserted pavilions of the Biennale of Venice. Something was wrong and each time footsteps approached she felt the danger. But not fear. Of course I was there not only to investigate her but also to protect her from her pursuers. It was her shoes that they wanted. In the heel of the left one there was a hidden secret. Pressure would destroy it, so the only way to ensure her safety was to make her run... And I did.
Another obscure Venice personality, connected to the Mister circle of spies and other mysterious people... Her code name was "Mis Legs" not only for the obvious reasons but because this was the last thing her enemies saw after they were defeated... I investigated her through many angles and the fact that you are seeing the fruits of my photographic investigation proves that I wasn't her enemy. To be continued...
I saw once a documentary about New York. I remember something a Queen's resident said, sitting in the stairs in front of his house, smoking: "You can go around the world meeting all kinds of people or you can stay in your porch day by day, watching people go by... It's exactly the same thing...". I know now this is so true! This photographic investigation took place in la Pizzeria delle Zattere, in Dorsoduro, Venice.
My subject had all the makes of Billy Wilder 1944 film's femme fatale... Better even than Barbara Stanwyck, in my photographic investigator's opinion.. "How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?" wondered Walter Neff in the film... Maybe my subject's partner did too, but to me he looked like he hadn't seen the film... Maybe I was wrong, who knows?
Easter photographic investigations are all about letting the Light in (even if it destroys the exposure) and getting your subjects' true Self out, free from the fears and restrictions of the mind. When Light washes away the contents of the mind, all that is left is Love.
Light can disrupt the darkest shot, whereas dark can't do the opposite. Another great truth an experienced photographic investigator inevitably finds out...
One of my subjects once told me that the secret to longevity is "good thoughts, good company, sunshine and a glass of red wine -or maybe a good coffee"... I don't know if it's the secret to longevity, but it certainly makes my photographic investigations a lot more fun...
A photographic investigator creates consciously her reality. So, it was a sunny spring Sunday, these guys were there, I wished we were all in LA, J Lo's "My love don't cost a thing" was playing on the radio... You get my point...
A relatively new field of philosophy that comprises Zen, positive thinking and stoicism, that photographic investigators, such as I, just can't get enough of... The secret to engage one's subjects of the investigation in coffeelosophic chatter is to present them with a problem of the human existence or situation. And then shoot, trying to be a part of the chatter. It's not easy, subjects tend to get frustrated when the realise it's just a trick. An experienced photographic investigator always participates convincingly!
There is something in common between Mona Lisa and my subjects: no matter how many times they have been "investigated" they never lost their essence. After infinite variations and approaches, they remain their beautiful, amazing, unique self... Always different, always unchanged.
Something that stayed with me since I first read George Mc Donald's beautiful story, "The Day Boy and the Night Girl"(The Romance of Photogen and Nycteris). I quote: "She followed the firefly, which, like herself, was seeking the way out. If it did not know the way, it was yet light; and, because all light is one, any light may serve to guide to more light. If she was mistaken in thinking it the spirit of her lamp, it was of the same spirit as her lamp and had wings". An excellent weekend reading that I strongly recommend especially now that light works it's way to gaining more ground every day...
