A STARTLED ANGEL, a glowering bearded head, two moss-covered cupids, a gargoyle-ish lion, and a smiling (drunken?) Bacchus, his hair festooned with bunches of grapes—all over Venice there are small sights, set high on walls, that draw me as much as the grand buildings and robust churches. Shyly or sternly, they wait for me to lift my gaze from eye level.
 
Photographing these expressive stone observers   is my stab at a fresh perspective on Venice (you can find some shots on my Flickr page). Here, it is easier to fall into a visual cliché than it is to fall into a canal. Everyone snaps or draws or paints the same attractions. (Oddly, the Bridge of Sighs is still attacked by tourists even though it is now sheathed and under reconstruction.) Chimneys, domes, watery reflections, laundry flapping on a line, shop windows full of masks and glass…you see it all over and over.
 
I’ve almost decided to do a series of pictures of people taking pictures.