Street Photography in Venice

By 10:00 the square is a crowd of tour groups and pigeons. Before sunrise it is close to empty: cleaners, early workers and cool blue light across the Procuratie. Raffaele Ferrari suggests arriving about 45 minutes before sunrise. From October to February, acqua alta can flood the paving and turn it into a mirror for the Basilica. Stand low at the edge of the water and wait for one person to cross the reflection. Raised walkways appear on flood days, so keep clear of them and let people pass.

The market sits on the San Polo side of the Rialto Bridge. The fish hall, the Pescheria, runs on weekday mornings and is closed on Sundays and Mondays in most listings, so check before you go. Get there around 7:30 for fishmongers setting out the catch, restaurant buyers and boats unloading on the canal. Stalls thin out after 11:00. Hands, ice and scales under the arches make strong frames. Shoot from the side of a stall rather than across the counter, and buy something if you want to linger. The floor is wet, so watch your step.

The Venetian Ghetto in Cannaregio is one of the oldest in Europe. Because the community could not expand outward, the buildings grew upward, and Raffaele Ferrari notes the tall walls create unusual light in the early morning. The square is quiet, with benches, children and residents crossing between the bridges. Use the height of the facades: shoot upward from a corner, or frame a walker small at the bottom of the frame. This is a living neighborhood and a place of memory, with synagogues and a Holocaust memorial. Keep it respectful and quiet.

This is a canal side walk in Cannaregio with bars and small restaurants on one side and boats on the other. It is sleepy in the morning and busy with Venetians and students at aperitivo time, from about 18:00. Look for people standing with drinks on the edge of the water, backlit by the evening sky. A good trick is to shoot along the canal from a bridge, so the line of people and moored boats leads into the frame. Keep your camera strap tight near the water.

Via Garibaldi is a wide street in eastern Castello, far from the crowds, and one of the most residential corners of the city. Mornings bring market stalls, older residents talking and laundry lines strung between the side streets. The side calli toward the Arsenale are where Castello feels most local. I'd come mid morning, work the stalls slowly, then wander north. People here are used to visitors but not to lenses in their face, so shoot wider and from a little further back.

This long square in Dorsoduro is the student center of Venice. Raffaele Ferrari points to its daily life: families, local bars and market stalls. By day you get shoppers and kids on bikes, which is rare in Venice. After dark the steps and bars fill with students. Late afternoon light rakes across the square from the west. Try framing a group at a bar table with the campo behind them. At night, raise your ISO and use bar light on faces. It gets noisy, so keep a relaxed manner.

The Zattere is a long stone waterfront on the south side of Dorsoduro, facing the island of Giudecca across a wide canal. It is the most open view in the city, all water and sky. At sunset, walkers, runners and people on café terraces turn into silhouettes against the water. Large boats and vaporetti pass close. Stand low near the edge and wait for a person and a boat to line up. Dalton Johnson found wide compositions here hard to make work, so think in close silhouettes rather than big scenes.

Burano is a fishing island in the lagoon, about 45 minutes by vaporetto from Fondamente Nove, with houses painted in strong colors. Raffaele Ferrari says color is the subject here: use a figure in a plain coat against a red or blue wall. Day trippers arrive from around 9:00, so take an early boat. Morning light is soft and the lanes are quiet. Walk away from the main street to the canals where residents dry laundry and mend boats. These are homes, so do not shoot through windows or doors.