Laundry day on Burano

ITALY | Saturday, 12 January 2013 | Views [390] | View Smaller Image

Burano is famed for its lace, mostly – though not totally – produced by women. This female resident is one of a fading generation of traditional lace makers. Laundry out to dry, she hand-weaves her latest masterpiece whilst her man oversees the production, contributing his two cents. Hmm… what is the Italian for ‘backseat driver’?

Tags: lace burano island laundry washing italian

The island’s elegant, pastel-coloured houses provide mental serenity and harmonise with the glorious natural setting. Sun-dappled and free from any pressure to modernize, Burano’s land forms are linked by quaint bridges around every corner, much like its noisy neighbour Venice. As I discovered yet more drying laundry, I felt like I knew the island’s inhabitants before meeting them.

< previous

3 of 5

As the day draws steadily to its close, Burano women discuss parochial matters outside their houses. Meanwhile, washing lines lean this way and that, their form echoed metres above them by communication wires. When everyone has clothes to dry, I presume the wires double up as washing lines.

next >

Return to photo gallery >>

Laundry day on Burano

Share