Abstract
Venice is usually presented as an anachronism: a 'timeless' or even anti-modern city, whose only practical use in the twenty-first century is as a catalogue of picturesque motifs (gondolas, reflected bridges, maskers). Precisely because of its exceptional nature, however, the city offers unique opportunities to rethink or question the idea of modernity. In this photographic essay, the city is presented as a place where people liveand work as well as visit: a place of making-do, and of improvised solutions to chronic problems, where the relationship between past and present is actively negotiated and rethought. History replaces nostalgia. The images, text and design all exemplify this theme.