Dream of Venice Book Series Challenges Preconceived Notions of the City

Dream of Venice in Black and White is the third book in a trilogy published by JoAnn Locktov; all three feature photography of Venice. This, however, might not be the Venice you’re used to seeing.

Locktov places the emphasis on what she calls a contemporary living city. “The purpose of the books is to really instigate people thinking about a destination,” she says. “I wanted to document Venice. [This series] should give people a sense of Venice — I hope — beyond what they would get from a typical guidebook.”

Why Venice? Locktov visited the city 20 years ago and fell “completely and madly in love.” She decided to channel her fierce love for the city into her professional life.

She began working with Venetian and Italian companies and then began the Dream of Venice series after collecting all the books she could find on Venice in an attempt to better understand the city. Disappointed with much of the color photography she saw in what was already published, she enlisted photographers whose work she admired and used her publishing background and connections to fill the void. The result is a creation that combats many of the misconceptions an average tourist might have about the city.

“I think [travelers are] missing out on the understanding that it’s a living, breathing city with residents,” Locktov says. “What’s happened because of mass tourism and for my Venetian friends, it’s quite an issue. People are always asking directions, as it’s very easy to get lost, but people will turn to them and say, what time does Venice close? In their mind, they’re already thinking they’ve come to a place that does not have residents, that it’s there for them to go to the museums and go shopping. They miss the fact that residents live there …”

“Venice has a thousand-year-old fish market … where they’ve been bringing their fish for a millennium,” Locktov adds. “It’s really colorful and the fishermen are really fun and the fish and vegetables are gorgeous, but it’s so touristed. The tourists come and take their photographs because it’s all very photogenic and they leave and they don’t buy anything because they’re there for the day or don’t have a kitchen …” Meanwhile, Locktov notes, the locals are prohibited from making their way into the market to buy their own groceries, due to the immense crowds.

“As tourists, we have to remember, we are going to someone’s home. That city is their home,” she says.

Locktov doesn’t necessarily think the tourism in Venice is a bad thing, though; it’s quite the opposite — she encourages travelers to visit, but she encourages visitors to expand their view of the city, both for the betterment of the locals and travelers’ experiences.

“[Tourists] go for the really crowded tourist areas and it doesn’t occur to them that if they walked literally 10 minutes in a different direction, they would have the city to themselves,” she says. “It would be quiet, it would be peaceful. They could go have an espresso and it would be so quiet! They would stumble upon the places actual Venetians go and eat.”