A day with MDT
Introduction
The external project involves an interview and joint photo shoot with Marc De Tollenaere, an artist and street photographer celebrated for capturing images with his unique perspective.
The experience unfolds in Venice, a city that, for twenty years, has served as a canvas for Marc's photographic journey.
Marc De Tollenaere is a 54-year-old artist of Italian/Belgian nationality with a rich cultural background, born in Libya and residing in Venice.
Fluent in four languages, Marc is practically Venetian, possessing an in-depth knowledge of the city in all its facets.
Marc's photography extends beyond Venice, spanning India, Africa, the Far East, and Europe over more than two decades.
In 2003, Marc was under the guidance of Italian photography master Gianni Berengo Gardin.
Studied under renowned international photographers from National Geographic and Magnum Photos, such as Alex Majoli, Kent Kobersteen, Bob Sacha, Antonin Kratochvil, Anders Petersen, Arno Minkkinen, David Alan Harvey.
Received accolades, including the Day’s Japan World Photojournalistic Award in 2005 and the Italian Professional Award in 2008.
Represented by the Grazia Neri agency and recognized as the face of prominent photography brands since 2007.
Exhibited work internationally, including Photokina Köln, Photoshow Rome, and Leica Galerie Milan.
Author of several photographic books with a focus on Venice:
"One, no one and fifty thousand" captures the last inhabitants of Venice over ten years of photo-shooting. Documents the city's evolution and challenges through neorealist shots, showcasing the intimate connection between individuals and their homes.
"Venice on the Edge of Light": Explores the play of light in Venice, presented in Café Florian in San Marco’s square.
"Gondole": A unique perspective on the iconic gondola, delving into its construction and hidden intricacies.
"Journey in the Venezie": a collaboration covering all provinces of the Veneto Region, celebrating the region's rich cultural and visual heritage.
My experience with Marc
It all took place in the pedestrian city of Venice on a cold day at the end of November 2023, on a route that starts from the Venice Santa Lucia station and, passing through the Jewish ghetto and some internal canals, reaches the maritime station of Sant' Alvise.
It was the first time I engaged in a photographic drift with an artist from the world to whom I always wanted to belong as a photographer. In recent years, my sessions have always been solitary or on the sidelines of some work trip to various parts of the world.
Speaking the same language, letting yourself go to emotional impulses and visual perceptions, taking all the time necessary to observe, reflect, wait for the right moment, and shoot. Then, analyze and reflect again, often repeating the process once, twice, umpteen times.
Incessantly answering Marc's question: ".... what do you see?". Reaching the awareness that, as I have always done, I start by photographing with my eyes, exactly as Marc has done since he was a child.
My experience with Marc was stimulating and inspired me to create a set of photographs we took together.
The occasion was also a good one to compare photographic equipment and their affinity with street photography or to reflect on the choice between black and white and colour.
One of the most significant results I take from this experience concerns the awareness that in a city like Venice, where the topography gives way to the emotional and psychological perception of the environment, the symbiosis between street photography, photographic drift and psychogeography reigns.
It is important to remember how, precisely in Venice, Sophie Calle created Suite Venitienne, a textual and photographic work that we can define as having a psychogeographic influence, and Ralph Rumney created the psychogeographical map, flanking it (he who was not a photographer) with a rich photographic set.
It is paradoxical how, in one of the most touristy and "spectacularized" cities in the world (to use Debord's definition), there is space and the possibility of pursuing "despectacularization" without great effort. One can let oneself go by chance, wandering between different worlds and cultural communities, without crossing any explicit border, but "mentally experiencing" the passage step by step.
This project allowed me to gain awareness of the relationship, which I defined as "triangular" in the critical review, between street photography, the act of walking, and psychogeographic photography.
I learned to control these acts and their relationship to arrive at my own poetics, based not only on dogmas and rules but also on a natural psychological, aesthetic and photographic inclination.
Once again
