Hall of Fame

Grand Winner 2018

Jaroslav MARES (Czech Republic)

Special Awards

Special Prizes of Giudecca 795 Art Gallery: Paolo Felletti Spadazzi (Italy), Gianmarco Donaggio (Norway)
Special Prize #youaresobeautiful:  Maurizio Zanetti (Italy)
Special Prize #childhoodinVenice: Bryan Aptekar (USA)
Special Prize #lifeinVenice: Paul Andrews (UK)
Special Prize #coglil’attimo: Patrizia Turchetti (Italy)
Special Prize #petsinVenice: Maria Claudia Poggia (Italy)

Monthly Winners

Paolo Felletti Spadazzi (Italy), Gianmarco Donaggio (Norway), Paul Andrews (UK), Mark Robinson (UK), Bryan Aptekar (USA), Andrea Trabucco (Italy), Marilena Previdi (Italy), Simon Yin (Popular Republic of China), Jaroslav Mares (Czech Republic), Jonni Locatelli (Italy)

The 3rd edition includes the photos of the month of November and December 2017.

Here are the Grand Winner 2018 and the 7 Special awards. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The finalists in their own words

Hi, my name is Paul Andrews.

I’m a 59-year-old amateur photographer from Harwich, England. My photography journey started when I was loaned an Olympus Trip compact for a holiday as a 20year old and immediately became hooked. I then progressed onto an Olympus OM10 SLR film camera, joined my local photography club and read as many photo magazines as possible to try to improve my skills and knowledge.

As I live on the coast Sea and landscapes have been my long-held passion, trying to get the best light where possible, out early with my trusty tripod and digital SLR. The beauty of photography is that there are many subjects you can choose and I have also spent time shooting on the streets of London looking for interesting people, backgrounds, and places. Again like landscapes no two days are ever the same and throw up different scenarios to reveal. I have been lucky enough to visit Venice twice out of season and have planned to visit again in March 2017 as I have totally fallen in love with the place. It excites me like nowhere else the moment I arrive and on my first visit I had my tripod out taking images with my suitcase next to me before I had even arrived at my hotel room such were the amazing views on offer. For me, Venice has it all and is so unique and mesmerizing that it continues to draw me back.

My name is Gianmarco Donaggio. I was born and raised in Italy, and currently I am based in Oslo and active as a cinematographer. I see photography as a form of meditation, a way to merge my impressions with the world’s expressions. To photograph is to extract a subtle essence of life, which can be observed and investigated further. As a consequence, my photography practice is still analogical. I find it essential to shoot film as a method to capture my images, so I can let mystery be a part of the process.

“One Day in Venezia” is my first participation in a photo contest, and so my exhibition debut in the world of still images. I am honored to exhibit my first photo in Venezia. The city is magical; a place to get lost, and once lost: to wonder.

Venezia to me is a source of pure curiosity and the perfect place to investigate and explore photography. The churches, the squares, the bars, don’t seem to have specific locations, but simply manifest themselves to the one looking for them. Should you not find them, you will surely find something unexpected and surprising; something better. As matter of fact, behind every corner of its ramification of canals, something beautiful is about to appear.

The city is more than that, with all it has to offer. It is holding up as one of the few places in Italy still keeping her head high above the decadence of modern times. To me, it seems to strongly affirm her majesty as a center for the arts, as well as a piece of art herself. Walking the streets of Venezia is to me like being on a canvas.

The picture was a present from the city to me, I was just there, ready to listen.

 

 

Hi, my name is Mark Robinson and I live in Burnley, England. I have been lucky to travel to many countries for both work and leisure and I always have my camera with me. So I guess I would categorize myself as a travel photographer. But with a difference – I am always looking for the unusual. The standing joke in my family is that when everyone else is focused on capturing the fabulous view or the magnificent building, I am pointing my camera in the opposite direction, taking a photograph of a doorknob or an unusual window.

And my favorite place to visit and photograph? Well, that’s easy to answer – magnificent, beautiful Venice of course!

My wife and I have now been to Venice seven times. In spring, summer, and winter. Our last two visits have been to celebrate the New Year. There is nothing quite so magical as to have your arms around the one you love whilst watching the fireworks explode above the Venetian lagoon.

We both enjoy getting lost in Venice to walk without a map is to lose your way in a maze of left and right turnings. The stone bridges lead you into dark, twisting alleyways that fill you with anticipation and a romantic sense of being very close to something hidden and secret. And suddenly you find a special little ristorante where the fish is spectacularly good, and all washed down with a glass (or two) of prosecco.

Why does prosecco always taste so much more special in Venice?

 

My name is Paolo Felletti Spadazzi, I was born in Padua, but I have been living in Venice for several years. I’m a retired engineer.

As a child, I used to draw, and as a kid, I started taking pictures. Venice was one of my first subjects.

I remember that I started in the ’60s, with a Kodak Instamatic. Once I was at the Lido and I wanted to photograph the sunset on the lagoon. Trying to get closer to the water as much as I could, I slid onto the steps of the bank, covered with algae, and my camera fell into the water. I was feeling desperate, but I tried to have it fixed at the shop. To my greatest surprise and joy when, about fifteen days later, the shopkeeper told me that Kodak had replaced my Instamatic for free with a new one. Even more than that…with a more recent model!
More than fifty years have passed since that day, and during these years, with ups and downs, I have always taken photographs. However, now that I’m retired, I can spend much more time on my passion. My return to photography has also been stimulated by one research I am developing, which leads me to compare the symbolism of the tarot with the various iconic elements of the city of Venice. I’d like to share this path with others.

 

(Another stunning image by Paolo!!!)

 

My name is Bryan Aptekar. I call Portland, Oregon (USA) home, where I am proud to be part of a group of dedicated professionals who take care of our local park system.

While I love what I do professionally, photography feeds my soul. I have had a camera in my hand since childhood, but I have only recently identified as a photographer. I have often said that photography is my excuse to travel. Though not entirely true, given exploring the world is as fundamental as breathing to me, what I appreciate about carrying my camera is the way it forces me to slow down, to look carefully, to pay closer attention to the world around me.

As a teenager, I visited Venice with my high school class, where I purchased my first piece of art – an oil painting of the Venice skyline. I feel incredibly grateful to have been able to return to Venice this spring to spend the month of April as an emerging artist myself, through an artist residency program hosted by Art & Soul.

It was during this time that I had the luxury to eat, drink, and explore my way around this magical place. Of course, I had my camera along to capture things as I see them. As I reflect on my time in Venice, what sticks with me most is its beauty, history, and resilience, as does the patience, hospitality, and ingenuity of the Venetian people making a life in such a unique place.

 

Hi, this is Andrea Trabucco! Born in Venice, I live in Mogliano Veneto, and I have been working in a hotel in the city for about 35 years. A lifetime spent in Venice! with its daily joys and issues. I look at it with the commuter’s eyes.. and some aspects pass to second place. But recently I started using a different perspective.

I have been fond of photography since a young age, attracted by cameras, lenses, and films. Some passions grow without specific reasons. I have been a fan of maestro Fulvio Roiter and “his” Venice. This city is unique, magic in its colors, corners, moods, sadness. One day, a dear Spanish friend of mine told me: Venice is not part of this world, it is a world apart…

I believe Venice is giving a good advantage to a photographer, it’s so rich in subjects and views. I use to photo shooting also at Carnival: in this picture, I “hybernated” the gondola on the occasion of the last snow of March.
At present I am attending a photography course, to improve my technique, and start a new path in this fascinating world. Always with my Canon EOS 600d. Sometimes it seems to be talking to me… suggesting me to take a pic.

 

Ciao, this is Marilena Previdi, I am from Biella and I am employed in an audio-visual production and distribution company

I like traveling and discovering new worlds so that I can bring home with me a piece of something that no school book can teach you.

Getting lost in calli, campielli and bridges are the best way to experience Venice. It is the only way to grab its endless tones and maybe ending up observing people walking on a rainy day, and shooting a picture revealing a magical atmosphere.

I enjoy taking photos to escape destiny, and I make up emotions. I keep searching for art expressions where ideas and concepts may become more important than aesthetics, and I believe that only photography allows you to chase impossible stories because it has the power to have things pop up from nothing. I have a passion for details, that can give space to my imagination, and the viewer’s too.

I am part of the Fotoclub Biella board, allowing me to share my passion, and I fully agree with Elliot Erwitt when he says: “manipulating a photo is not something new, it’s only easier now and everybody can do it. What is unbearable now is to set a manipulated photo as a genuine one”.

 

 

When in doubt… pick both! For the August contest, two pics by the same author, from the Czech Republic:

 

Hi, I am Jaroslav Mares. I was born in 1958 and graduated from the Brno University of Technology, I have been working as a Mechanical engineer in Policka all my life. I am an amateur photographer and live in Policka in the Czech Republic.

I have been photographing since my childhood, but I have been working with my camera more intensively in the last ten years.

My favorite topics are people in their native places, architecture, and conceptual photograph.

My works have been published in some photographic magazines, I have won more than twenty awards in photographic competitions, made ten author exhibitions and has participated in many others. But I am not a professional, and I’d rather call myself an advanced amateur. I do not have any formal photography education and I did not make any photographs for business in my life.

My favorite photo quotation is from Elliott Erwitt:

“Photography is the art of observing, finding something extraordinary in an ordinary place. It is not important what you see but how you see it.”

The photo above, analogic, depicts one of the few, real mask makers in Venice among his creations.

Ciao! I’m Jonni Locatelli and I live in Terno d’Isola (Bergamo, Italy).

Besides my job in a mechanical factory, I have two great passions: the first passion that I cultivate since the age of eight is music, as I am an active member of the musical folk group “I SIFOI” in Bottanuco, a group that since 1867 has specialized in a peculiar instrument called the pan flute.

My second passion is photography, which I discovered it later, around 24. My first camera was a digital SLR and it helped me understand and learn the main rules of composition and photographic technique; later on, through the photographic and human lessons by maestro Gianbattista Longhi, I embarked on the difficult path towards analogic photography in black and white and bought my real camera, a Leica R7 equipped with an unerring lense, the 35mm Summicron.

Since then, my camera has been my companion on every trip. This awarded photograph is the souvenir of one of my travels to Venice with my wife Chiara. During our stay, we decided to give us an unforgettable memory by buying a typical Venetian Carnival mask. We went in search of those ateliers by real mask makers. After a lot of walking around, we noticed a shop and we understood it was the right place for us; the owner welcomed us with kindness, and after having guided us to the choice of our mask, I asked him if I could portray him between his creations, and here is what my eyes saw.

Did some of the stories inspire you? Follow us and enter the OneDayInVenezia photo contest for more.

Bonjour,

this is Xavier HATCHI and I am from Lyon (France).

I have been to Venezia multiple times and since day one I fell in love with this city. Venezia is a family matter for numerous reasons. The first time I came here I was with my wife and her parents. We have been back a few times but always accompanied by my family members.

Venezia’s beauty is unconventional. We use to stay at Madonna Dell’Orto: a very typical and amazingly preserved neighborhood.

My latest trip was in last November. We wanted to show the city to our 2 sons and enjoyed walks along the canals and the waterbus cruises. During the Biennale of Contemporary Art, in addition to discovering extraordinary exhibits, you have the chance to grant access to some incredible Palazzi. From an architectural point of view, Venezia is astonishing. The city is a wonderful subject for any art lover: every single building is a unique piece of art.

My passion for photography has grown over the years.

I like to take long exposure shots and be surprised at how different movements can be captured and merged in just one frame. Venezia is the perfect place for long exposure shots: beautiful static buildings surrounded with water and Vaporetto in motion.

The picture submitted is a 20 seconds exposure. By looking closely, at this exposure time it allows you to see trails of the vaporetto lights, even if the boat itself has disappeared… Also, the water movement makes the canale “foggy”. I waited for the “blue hour” to take the shot. So when the picture is converted into monochrome, everything is more about shades of grey than black and white.

Thank you for picking my shot, it is always a pleasure to talk about my passion. Hope I will be able to share with you the rest of my work.

 

 

My name is Boris Dalpozzo, I am 37. I am a veterinary surgeon and I live and work in Bologna.
I met photography thanks to my mother who has been making up a beautiful family photo album for a long time that I continue to browse for hours even today. Despite this, I have always kept a distance from cumbersome cameras, bags full of lenses, and the myriad of sometimes intrusive shots typical of the digital age.

I became a real photography fan all of a sudden when during one holiday a friend put a Leica M3 in my hands. Needless to say, as soon as I returned I went straight to my first (and only) camera. From that moment I discovered a way of photographing
different from what I was used to. A more intimate, personal, thoughtful, composed style, requiring only a few clicks to really appreciate the light and the waiting for the right moment.

This attitude taught me how to look with different eyes also through the lens of other tools like the camera of my cell phone, which inevitably I still use.

Venice is wonderful to me. Surely it hides many beauties and details that escape to those who, like me, do not know it in depth. But I believe its architecture, the canals, the gondolas, the masks, the kisses, the smell of the sea and of the damp are not just common places. I believe they are what makes it unique. That’s why I chose this photo. The portrait of a moment in which everything rests except its untiring beauty.
I had never participated in a competition and I am happy and honored that this is my debut!

Get inspired by the photos awarded in the other years

• 5th edition (2020) work in progress
• 4th edition (2019)        .
• 2nd edition (2017)       .
• 1st edition (2015-2016)

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