SB24 #5

The first time I visited Venezia was in the era before ubiquitous high speed mobile data and as such I spent a lot of time trying not to get lost, though usually failing. Small twisting streets that wind their way through buildings built on top of other buildings and passageways that dead end in water. I doubled back, retraced steps and tried again. Always looking around for something recognizable to locate against. And I got the feeling everyone else was doing the same. I visited again last month and the experience was totally different. Everyone, myself included, heads down staring at a map on our phones, perfectly navigating the labyrinth like city but missing everything along the way. At some point on the trip I decided to stop knowing where I was going, to try to get lost and figure it out along the way. It took longer, but it was much more interesting. One thing that has been a constant through all of my visits, is thinking about how fucking annoying all of us must be to everyone who lives there. And rather than pretend it wasn't the case, I went ahead and embraced it with this classic street photo for a classic European city.