Firefly was an amazing sci fi western series that had a short life. That, along with the fact that it was just brilliant made it a cult and a must see for every serious sci fi lover. If Firefly hadn't been untimely cancelled (after only one season), I am sure that Serenity (this is how the ship was called) would have -somehow- visited a planet called Venice. She was called "La Serenissima" after all and a photographic investigator knows only too well that there are not coincidences...
Read MoreShe wanted to play Anne Bancroft's role in Jacques Tourneur's film noir, "Nightfall". She knew she could pull it off and so did her producer husband. I had investigated her many times in the past, but this time the investigation had taken an almost metaphysical "colour". "Things that really happen are difficult to explain" her character says at one point in the film and this is how it works. Of course, what is real and what is not, is another investigation altogether...
Read MoreIt was a bad 1984 french film with Valérie Kaprisky. But then, everything that reminds us of our youth is seen through a "summer of innocence" filter, as I call it, that feels like the seventies summer films yellow hue looks like... The past is reinvented every time we recall it, and this was one of these times. It was summer in Venice and I was investigating this delicate and sweet young artist, an ethereal presence that decided to take off her shoes and move playfully... And then I saw them. The medusas. It was the first time they were seen in Venice and everyone thought it was a good omen. The incident had a french Riviera feel to it, just like this old movie. I thought it was a good omen as well.
Read MoreIt was the day of the summer solstice and it was obvious that she was hiding. But not from me. My assignment was to investigate this beautiful woman who denied her divine nature for an obscure reason. She thought she was just a beautiful model but the way the garden embraced and protected her was more than eloquent to the contrary. it wasn't my job to reveal secret stories and I didn't try to.
Read MoreThere are many magical women in Venice and they excel in magic potions or spells that could make you instantly rich or famous or internationally admired. And although many people believe in them and visit them every year to renew the effectiveness of the magic they bought, I systematically avoid them because there is nothing about them to be photographically investigated. But there was one venetian witch that had captured my interest -and that of my employers, obviously- because she made magic dresses and corsets that could bind or liberate, depending on the wishes of the client. And she was beautiful. Of course I was the witness of pure magic in her presence, as I saw her magically changing outfits while being investigated. This was the first one...
Read MoreIt was one day before the opening of the Venice Biennale. Only journalists were allowed, so I used one of my fake identities. Not so fake really, since a photographic investigator's job is not so different from that of a journalist's. Anyway, she also pretended to be one. You come to know those things after 2-3 decades of pretending. But she made my work very easy and I was thankful to her not only for this, but for her beautiful smile as well. She knew she was being investigated, but she allowed it. I made a mental note to look her up. A very interesting partnership could be in the horizon.
Read MoreVery often in Venice, spies like to disguise as fashion models. And it's a good disguise because it allows them not to avoid photographers while hiding. One of the paradoxes of the ingenious venetian spy web that I have come to know so well in the last years. The only clue that I had about the place of this photographic investigation was a word: Arcana. At first I though that it had to do with tarot cards (and started cursing because I had forgotten my tarot deck in Athens), but then I remembered Corto Maltese's "Corte Sconta called Arcana" in his adventure "Fable of Venice". Of course I was one of the 5 people who had the key to this secret place. There are no coincidences in the photographic investigation business. He was there, waiting. I did my job, as I always do.
Read MoreHe was one of the most popular Californian novel writers and he liked mexican hats. I was hired to investigate him by a publishing house who wanted to hire him for a series of romance/detective novels who would have him as a hero. Unusual, I know... It's common knowledge that in such cases it's the writer who comes up with the proposal. But nothing in my job was ever... usual. So, I had to lure him to my house in the californian desert where I kept a collection of mexican, guatemalan and honduran hats. The plan worked just fine and in the end he promised me that he would dedicate his next novel series to me and my photographic investigation adventures. A fine deal.
Read MoreThere are many ways to communicate and a photographic investigator knows that, although she has chosen to do it through visual stimulation, images and mood, these are the most deceptive forms of communication. But the important thing is to keep the channels open, despite of the importance, truth or value of the message conveyed. The only way to do that is to keep communicating. What will actually be communicated at the end of the day, has very little to do with the photographic investigator's intention or the recipients conscious perception.
Read MoreThat day I wanted to photographically investigate something true, and the nearest true thing happened to be my shadow. Shadows don't lie.
Read MoreWhenever you hang your clothes to dry in Venice, I'll be there to photographically investigate them, rest assured! A photographic investigator only has so many assignments...
Read MoreKanella means "cinnamon" in greek and as I am sure you have guessed by now, the word was the only clue I was given about this particular assignment. But nothing can beat an assignment on a greek beach so, I went, I investigated and the only thing I can reveal about my subject is that she gave me the opportunity to taste the best lamb stew in the galaxy. Kanella made it spicy, just like her name and her personality... To be continued...
Read MoreI had 2 major assignments for the summer of 2017... Pink flamingos and beach vamps... I was lucky in both photographic investigations. You'll have to wait a little longer for the pink flamingo extravaganza though...
Read MoreI saw once a documentary about New York. I remember something a Queen's resident said, sitting in the stairs in front of his house, smoking: "You can go around the world meeting all kinds of people or you can stay in your porch day by day, watching people go by... It's exactly the same thing...". I know now this is so true! This photographic investigation took place in la Pizzeria delle Zattere, in Dorsoduro, Venice.
Read MoreOne of my subjects once told me that the secret to longevity is "good thoughts, good company, sunshine and a glass of red wine -or maybe a good coffee"... I don't know if it's the secret to longevity, but it certainly makes my photographic investigations a lot more fun...
Read MoreIt is essential for my photographic investigations!
Read MoreSomething that stayed with me since I first read George Mc Donald's beautiful story, "The Day Boy and the Night Girl"(The Romance of Photogen and Nycteris). I quote: "She followed the firefly, which, like herself, was seeking the way out. If it did not know the way, it was yet light; and, because all light is one, any light may serve to guide to more light. If she was mistaken in thinking it the spirit of her lamp, it was of the same spirit as her lamp and had wings". An excellent weekend reading that I strongly recommend especially now that light works it's way to gaining more ground every day...
Read MoreIt's a freelance photographic investigator's -like myself- dream... Temperatures are ideal for photographic investigations, subjects are more open and the aloha spirit flows through everything... That's paradise.
Read MoreThere may be trouble ahead
But while there's music and moonlight and love and romance
Let's face the music and dance
Before the fiddlers have fled
Before they ask us to pay the bill and while we still have the chance
Let's face the music and dance
Soon we'll be without the moon, humming a different tune and then
There may be teardrops to shed
So while there's moonlight and music and love and romance
Let's face the music and dance
Read MoreI was investigating a telenovela producer who had an unusual vision: create a telenovela without intrigues, without passions and lies and without suspense. He had decided that her series would be about loving friends and their encounters at work, having coffee, smoking, talking about their cats and writing philosophy articles... No desperate love affairs, no cheating, no crimes... All I had to do was follow the actors. The name of the telenovela would be "Amigas" and these shots are from the coffee breaks... And they were many...
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