TITLE: The Gondolier's Tale

"The gondolier is a picturesque rascal for all he wears no satin harness, no plumed bonnet, no silken tights. His attitude is stately; he is lithe and supple; all his movements are full of grace. When his long canoe, and his fine figure, towering from its high perch on the stern, are cut against the evening sky, they make a picture that is very novel and striking to a foreign eye." Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, 1869...
What a perfect description of my friend Fillipo...
Gondoliers are a Venetian icon of their own, and together with the Venetian Masks, they remind us of that magical and glamorous lifestyle. Existing in Venice since the 11th century, ( being first mentioned by name in 1094 ), there is however still a lot of mystery around the gondoliers’ world. It is a world where few locals, let alone foreigners, are a part of. It is estimated that there were eight to ten thousand gondolas during the 17th and 18th century, but there are only around four hundred in active service today, with virtually all of them used for hire by tourists.

AUTHOR: Robin Yong (Australia)

Robin Yong is a multi-award winning Travel and Commercial Photographer, trained by acclaimed American photographer Jim Zuckerman, the world famous Venetian Masks Florine Houee and Danielle Massart, and legendary Hollywood photographer Greg Gorman. He enjoys traveling to exotic destinations to befriend and photograph the locals. He is best known for his work on the Omo Valley tribes in Ethiopia, the Venetian Masked models in Venice, the Bokator boxers of Cambodia and the Maikos of Kyoto. He calls these works his Travel Portraits, his Art of Travel Medicine. For most of his works, he does not use flash, reflectors or artificial lighting, depending solely on natural lighting alone. The photos are often dramatic, colourful and extremely beautiful. For Robin, every photo must look like a movie poster...These highly conceptual and thought provoking Travel Portraits especially, are designed to arouse an audience both visually and emotionally.

His orientation towards photography has always been passion before commercial considerations and so his photos have always been a little different from that of many other photographers. His private sessions and assistance in photo workshops are highly sought after, and previous participants included doctors, professors and even US senators. Despite his fame today, he will still do time for photo collaborations with budding models and artistes if the conditions are right.

Over the past few years, Robin has quickly become one of the most popular and influential photographers at the Venice Carnevale and within the past few months, Flowers of Ethiopia alone has gathered numerous awards, finalist status and honourable mentions in many International photography competitions, including Alfred Fried Awards, Antu Sente Cup, Australia's Top Emerging Photographers, International Photography Awards, Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA), Istanbul Photo Awards, Moscow International Foto Awards, One Eyeland Awards, The Prix de la Photographie Paris, Sienna International Photo Awards, Tokyo International Foto Awards, Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) Awards, Xposure Awards etc. In just slightly more than 2 years, Robin's travel photos have gathered more than 800 awards worldwide, earning him Grandmaster status within the Australian Photographic Society...
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As of June 2018, Robin is now an Accredited Professional Photographer with the AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photography) and within a year, an Associate with the same organisation.