Yes, I have been to Venice several times before. Having lived in Europe for many years, it was fairly easy to do. In addition, between 1979 and 1982, I spent several months in Priabona, a small village in Northern Italy, which is within striking distance from Venice, to complete my fieldwork but it was never during carnival days. Of course, I heard and read a lot about those beautiful, colorful, exotic costumes and most importantly, about those mysterious masks. There is no shortage of carnival images on this and other image databases. About 3 years ago, I considered going to Venice for the first time but that plan was not put in motion. However, when I viewed beautiful images from last year, I decided to put a definite plan together and we finally did it.

I contacted Silvano Candeo, a great photographer from Padova that has been photographing carnivals in Venice for many years. Although I never met Silvano previously, he was very helpful in providing information on our stay there. He was even more so in person and he gave me tips on location, timing and what to expect, etc. My appreciation goes to Silvano. While there, I also met other photographers, Joe Marquez and his family from Hawaii, who was there last year and other Italian photography enthusiasts, the group Il pokerd'assi (Alessia, Bianca, Marina and Monica) and Christian from France. Of course, Silvano, being a passionate photographer himself, was very active. On and off for three wonderful days, we captured images of people in masks together.

Carnival is a festival traditionally held in Roman Catholic countries. The festivities last for about ten days; it starts on Saturday and ends on Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. The official festival, for the most part is staged at Piazza San Marco but it is not about party, excessive consumption of alcohol and dancing on the street, unlike some other popular carnival celebration in Rio de Janeiro or Mardi Gras. Those festivities are interesting alright but from photographic point of view are of less value. For the most part, we didn't even bother with them. Masks are the main feature of the Venetian carnivals. They can be made out of leather or of formed layers of paper layered with textile and mixed with paste. The original masks were rather simple in design and decoration. Nowadays, most of them are fancily hand-painted, embossed/ornamented and decorated with natural feathers and gems.

Who are these people behind the masks? Most of them are diehard enthusiasts from all over Western Europe although France seems to have the largest contingent, followed by participants from Italy and Germany. They work hard on designing and crafting the outfit and masks. Some really diehards have more than just one outfit. They changed their mask and outfit almost on a daily basis throughout the week. The total outfit was so intricate and detailed that it would not surprise me when I found out that each would take two months to complete. My hats are off to those diehards! It is simply amazing to see that they can change their appearance so dramatically. Your age, your facial features and to a certain degree, even you gender will be hidden. Behind those masks and costumes, you can be whatever you want to be, from bizarre and monster-like to elegant and beautiful. Not a single time, do they reveal their real face behind the mask and you just have to use your imagination. I couldn't stay to witness the entire wonderful event since my stay was limited to only the first three days. Well, there is always next year to look forward to....

At sunrise or shortly before sunrise a group of dedicated masks gather near the water front at San Marco. The weather cooperated for the first two days. Yes, it was cold but both sunrise and sunset were spectacular. When more and more crowd started to assemble, a group of masks and photographers moved quietly to a different location further inside the "labyrinth" of Venice to get away from the crowd. The "program" was flexible and communicated right there and then on the spot. Other popular shooting locations that I visited included, Santa Maria Formosa, Arsenale, San Giorgio and Burano or just about anywhere else less crowded.

The masks love their pictures being taken and you can ask them to pose as you please. In return, they would like you to send their images to them. Most masks are well prepared; they give you cards that show them in their masks and costumes. However, I managed to miss some of them since it could be quite hectic. If you happen to know the masks that I didn't identify on the images below, or if I misidentified some masks, please let me know. I would be more than happy to send some of their images to them.

Thank you for visiting this gallery. I hope you enjoy my very first images of this wonderful, colorful, photogenic and yet mysterious world of masks. Your comments are greatly appreciated. The last image on the bottom of this gallery provides a link to some grabshots.