It was night and I was in Venice with a view of the Ponte della Paglia. On the other side of the canal, the beautiful view of the Giudecca with the dome of the church of San Giorgio Maggiore, designed by the architect Andrea Palladio. And yet, my eyes couldn’t stop observing a girl. She was perched on a lamp post, forcing a strange posture of those who want to appear spontaneous and natural but are not. Clinging to the lamp post with one arm, she let her body fall while in the other hand she held a yellow tulle skirt, pretending that the wind would work its magic, but that was not the case. Below, the boyfriend took photos with his cell phone following her concise instructions.
This strange ritual repeated itself over and over again. The girl forced her posture, holding her skirt, looking into the distance with a practiced expression of happiness, calm and serenity. After a few seconds of charade, the boyfriend came over and showed her the photos. Anger, reproaches. Not like that. Get better on the other side. Get me out of here. Can’t you see it wasn’t like that? And start again.
