Acts of Synanthropism
Seagulls and pigeons dominate Venice’s urban landscape. The picturesque, choreographic bird-barriers that locals build mirror our conflicting relationship with nature. A reportage by Clelia Cadamuro.
The word ‘synanthropism’ indicates wild species’ adaptation to artificial and built environments. In this photo essay, Clelia Cadamuro investigates the coexistence between humans and birds in Venice’s urban center, dominated by pigeons and especially yellow-legged gulls. Familiar yet problematic presences, they occupy liminal spaces like roofs, ledges, ruins, or deserted islands. To keep them away, residents assemble colorful, rickety structures and precarious compositions — the product of frustration and creativity. Cadamuro’s lens focuses on the barriers scattered across the city: the metal spikes glued to CCTVs, DIY scarecrows on balconies, shiny, reflective objects hanging from boats and windows, and glittering ribbons rustling in the wind. These elements appear as involuntary choreographies, theatrical settings carrying their own meaning and aesthetic language.
