Postcards
from Venice
by Federico Sutera
Postcards
from Venice
by Federico Sutera
Venice historical centre has seen its number of residents dropping below 55,000.
The city is losing about 1,000 residents per year: the number of Venetians decreases in relation with the rising number of tourists. People and activities that are not working in the tourism industry – see it like a one-crop economy – are being pushed out of the city to give more room to mass tourism simulacra and to 27 millions of visitors per year (75% of which are day trippers).
Venice can’t handle these flows and these numbers anymore, otherwise its “real”city status will end and, at the same time, it will lose the touristic appeal itself. As a Venetian citizen, I am concerned about my city’s destiny and I ask myself a lot of questions. With this photographic project, that I have titled “Venice for sale”, I want to highlight the problems that mass tourism has caused to my city, its side effects on the social and urban field.
Therefore, to prevent Venice from “sinking”, it is necessary to have a sustainable policy managing the tourism, with a focus on quality and not quantity. Considering that even Venice most frequent visitors, those who return to the city quite often, can hardly recognize it, and that even everyone who loves and respects this city is pushed away from the tangible effects of mass tourism, what kind of future is waiting for Venice and its inhabitants?
Through the lens, I can access worlds, sometimes these worlds can be here on the street open to anyone where permission in not needed; but the lens also allows me to access worlds not accessible by everyone. There is no city without its inhabitants. There is no city without its life. My photography is in some way tied to the story of my city. The human element is necessary to provide proportion. We need our sense of scale, we need our reference. The street is life, made of moments and istants; it's documentation. What moves me is the calling to free an emotion a feeling I hold for my city, I capture it with all the love of the world. We are the ones who make the city.
View the entire project and order prints online at:
postcardsfromvenice.eu
