2007 Emerging Photographer Fund finalist Chris Bickford is working on a long-term project on the feast of Carnival and the multitude of expressions it has taken on worldwide.
For the last two winters he travelled to Italy to document the Carnival of Venice, one of the oldest and most vibrant Carnival celebrations in the world. This coming winter he will be traveling to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and the Louisiana Carnival season, and in subsequent years he will be following the Carnival trail to Brazil, Trinidad, and points beyond.
In both his writing and photography on the subject, Bickford explores the historical and psychological roots of Carnival, the “daytime” and “nighttime” faces of Venice, the public and private subversions of identity that made the masquerade such and integral part of Venetian life for centuries, and the current re-envisioning and commercialization of the tradition. His current Venice work will be appearing in the December issue of the Chinese magazine Vision.
Click on the photo above to watch Chris Bickford’s Venice Carnival.
For more of Chris’ work go to his website www.chrisbickford.com.
