Competing with the Rialto Bridge area for the Cliché To End All Clichés of Venice is the Piazza San Marco / Riva degli Schiavoni area.  A long exposure shot of gondolas with the tower of San Giorgio Maggiore in the background is absolutely obligatory for any self-respecting Fine Art Photographer. Not to mention Rough Art Photographers, or indeed tourists. Street Photographers would, of course, rather take an artfully oblique, grainy black and white shot of a Fine Art Photography prancing around with his (usually) tripod, taking a long exposure shot of gondolas with the tower of San Giorgio Maggiore in the background.

But that’s no reason whatsoever to avoid the obvious, and here’s my take on it. The lack of people in some shots confirms that unlike Street Photographers who are still tucked up in bed dreaming of their first espresso, Urban Landscape Photographers get up early.

(for any technically minded visitors - the first shot here is taken with a Ricoh GRD II, all the rest are Sigma DP2 Merrill)

I probably should try shooting more people, but I keep telling myself that it’s not really my thing.  But anyway, here are some denizens of Venice I’ve shot over the past few years.  Some in focus. Some less so.

My first attack of serious camera gear lust in quite some time.

SIGMA dp Quattro - SIGMA CORPORATION

Now that’s what I call thinking outside of the box…

Sestiere di Castello, Venezia, approaching midnight, approaching silence.  Probably a real photographer would have made these black & white & moody & gritty.  Probably a real photographer wouldn’t have taken them at all.

Although I might, I suppose, be classified as a “landscape photographer”, I’m finding published landscape photography more and more tame, repetitive, formulaic and sterile^*. Certainly there are people out there pushing boundaries, but very, very rarely am I surprised. So despite being an avid reader, and least so far as online reading is concerned I find myself more attracted to other genres for inspiration. And one monthly digital publication I can strongly recommend is “The Inspired Eye”, now at Issue 6.

The Inspired Eye is the work of two American photographers, Olivier Duong and Don Springer. And when I say “work”, I mean it. They clearly put the hours on, setting and maintaining very high production values, keeping to a tight schedule, and apart from producing a monthly magazine of well over 100 pages, which quite easily matches the quality of printed publications - they also run a lively blog, podcast and informative email list.

The emphasis is on “street”, and black & white, neither of which are my thing as such, but the variety and quality of the photographers (many if whom are largely unknown) makes for some fascinating reading and some rewarding discoveries. And sometimes some other styles creep in, and sometimes (gasp) some colour, even clearly neither editor is a huge fan of a more polychromatic approach.

But this kind of publication is what is keeping photography, as oppose to camera acquisition, alive these days, and it’s providing some great exposure to some deserving, creative and very interesting characters. It’s gritty, full of life, and if not everything appeals to everyone, well actually that’s good too. And there is very, very little talk about gear (although I imagine you get a discount if you own a Ricoh GR).

At $19.95 for a 6 issue subscription, you’d get an absolute bargain and you’d be supporting a really worthwhile venture.  Give a try, you can even get Issue 1 as as free trial.

Do I need to add “highly recommended” ?

^* obviously I include myself in this wild, uninhibited tirade.