A lush photographic exploration of Venice in winter when the crowds have left the piazzas and canals.
Frank Van Riper is a nationally acclaimed Washington-based photographer, author, journalist and lecturer. His current book, done in collaboration with Judith Goodman, his wife and professional partner, is 'Serenissima: Venice in Winter.' A collection of atmospheric black and white photographs and essays, it was published in Fall, '08 to rave reviews both in the United States and in Italy.
A documentary photographer in the tradition of Cartier-Bresson and Gianni Berengo Gardin, Van Riper also is an award-winning writer, having served for 20 years in the Washington Bureau of the New York Daily News, as White House correspondent, national political correspondent, and Washington Bureau news editor. He currently is the photography columnist of the Washington Post, where his column, Talking Photography, is carried worldwide on washingtonpost.com.
'Serenissima' is Frank's fifth book--others include the biography of Sen. John Glenn and the Pulitzer-nominated 'Down East Maine / A World Apart.' During the course of six years working on location in Venice, Frank (who is half-Italian on his mother's side) finally convinced himself that he had to learn the language of his forebears. He finally did and was conversant enough to speak to audiences in Italian during a ten-day, four-city book tour in Italy in May, 2009
