The Venetian Lagoon is prone to heavy fog during winter, turning the nearby islands into visually mysterious places with an eerie feel. In fact, this fog is why the house fronts in Burano are so colourful: so the residents can see them through the dense fog from the lagoon.

I visited the area for a long weekend in December 2023, where I was lucky enough to experience this dense fog, as well as the phenomenon called the acqua alta where Venice floods. Two days in a row I woke up to Piazza San Marco being flooded – first with 94cm, then with 97cm of water. While the flood water creates a beautiful mirror image of the square, the increasing frequency of this natural occurrence is a sign of climate change.

During that weekend I tried to capture through photography the details that made the visit at Christmastime special to me – the nativity on the lagoon viewed from Burano, the colourful homes with their matching wreaths, shops decorated for the holiday, the Christmas tree in Piazza San Marco enveloped with fog, and a plethora of dangling Christmas lights.