Palazzo Corner della Ca' te Venetië c. 1880 - 1900

Editor: Here we have Carlo Naya’s albumen print, "Palazzo Corner della Ca' te Venetië," created sometime between 1880 and 1900. The architecture, grand and rising from the water, feels… frozen, like a moment suspended in time. What strikes you when you look at it? Curator: It’s a stage, isn't it? Waiting for actors, for gondolas gliding in with secrets. The sepia tones evoke nostalgia, a longing for a bygone era, yet it is a longing for what? A romanticized view, or for the grit beneath the gloss? Tell me, Editor, do you see figures? Editor: Well, yes, now that you mention it. I see what appear to be figures standing on the steps leading into the Palazzo! I wonder what they might be talking about? Curator: Perhaps love, loss, the price of fish… Look at how Naya uses the water – is it a mirror? A moat? A shimmering, secretive path to other worlds? Or, the glassy surface hides a murky underbelly. What stories, what lives, does this building hold within its walls? Do we dare imagine? Editor: That contrast between the glassy water surface and the palazzo as stage really gets me thinking now. It makes me want to visit Venice, not just as a tourist, but with an archaeologist’s eye, peeling back layers of time. Curator: Exactly! Not just seeing, but truly *feeling* the echoes of lives lived within those stones. This isn't just a photograph, Editor; it is a whisper across the ages, daring us to listen closely.