Thursday, 18 February 2016

Vintage Venice

Taken around 1960, Elizabeth Taylor and her then husband, singer Eddie Fisher, on holiday on Burano Island in the lagoon at Venice

VINTAGE VENICE

Sometimes on a Thursday afternoon, after a long day out the house doing work, you just need to chill. You need to indulge in some kind of escapism. You need to say adiós world for a moment or two, and do something that your soul will thank you for. This is what we're here to do, dear readers. And the escapism I've selected for us all to enjoy, are these beautifully breathtaking, monochrome, photographic gems, capturing times long gone. I came across them the other day, purely by chance, and was simply captivated by their beauty. I spent a good long while just trailing through them in awe, dreaming of what life must've been like when these photographs were taken. Wishing the photographs were a portal into which I could descend, and a whirlwind would then embrace me and transport me back to the time and place these photographs stunningly depict.

I'm not sure who the talented photographers responsible for these images are. The article from which I sourced these images, unfortunately didn't mention, though I assume they're the handiwork of a multitude of creatives. What I do know, however, is that these photographs were taken from the 1940's. through to the 1970's, when glamour and decadence and fabulousness and sublimity were rife, and the common denominator is the naturally gorgeous Italian city of Venice, where the main modality of transport is boat, and the architecture is steeped with character and history galore. They also capture an array of dazzling superstars from the worlds of cinema, art and music, including Mick Jagger, Liz Taylor, Eddie Fisher, Paul Newman, Salvador Dali, Gary Cooper, Gene Tierney, Sean Connery, Warren Beatty and Catherine Deneuve. These photographs really are just divine. You can almost imagine you were lounging lazily on a gondola, dressed in only the highest fashion, sipping a limoncello cocktail, as your charming Italian gondolier effortlessly navigates you through the rich waters of Venice. The warm sun gently caressing your face, cares carried away by the tranquil passing breeze, marvelling at the beauty of the world around you, feeling at one with everyone and everything...

Unfortunately photographs are yet to be magically transformed into mystical time travelling portals, so till that longed for day eventually comes, I'm afraid we'll have to make do with dreaming, and I hope you enjoy these photographs as much as I do.

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Rock star appeal: British singer Mick Jagger sits next to Bianca Jagger in a gondola, with the gondolier behind them in Venice  in 1971

Spanish artist Salvador Dali pulls a dramatic pose on a gondola while the gondolier rows on behind him

American actor Warren Beatty pictured outside the Excelsior Hotel  in 1965. The hotel was also where the first film festival was hosted

British actress Claire Bloom and her husband American actor Rod Steiger hiding under an umbrella. They were in Venice for the film festival in September 1963

Shaken not stirred: A dishevelled Sean Connery rides a water taxi with the wind is his hair, overlooking the Venetian lagoon in the 1970s

Later, donning a hat,  Gene Tierney tries her hand at rowing a gondola. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven

Legendary American actor Paul Newman, wearing a tuxedo and a bow tie during a trip on a water taxi with St. Mark Square in the background, Venice 1963

American actor Sue Lyon, known for playing Lolita, is pictured wearing a strapless, striped bikini and reclining on a gondola in 1962

Taken in 1951, American actor Gene Tierney, wearing a striped short-sleeved nautical-style shirt, lounges on a gondola boat

Mexican actor Anthony Quinn wearing a plaid blazer, with the actress Barbara Steele, sitting in a water taxi on the Canal Grande in 1958

American actor Gary Cooper, pictured in 1955, wears a blazer and a tie as he enjoys his gondola ride in St Mark's Basin

French actor Cathrine Deneuve on the set of the movie 'Mayerling', wearing a coat and and a beret. She holds a paintbrush in her mouth while photographers snaps away in March 1968

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