My Mum loves Venice. Every time she visits, she buys a small Murano glass goldfish in a bowl which she displays on her kitchen dresser when she gets home. There are now so many you would need more than both lots of fingers and toes to count them all.

My grandparents loved Venice too. They used to stay in the same corner room of the Bauer Hotel overlooking the Grand Canal, and my Grandpa would draw many of the views in the city whilst Granny brushed up on her Italian. She became fluent and read many books and novels in this most lyrical of languages.

Whilst I have not been to Venice nearly as many times as either my Mum or my grandparents, I also love it there. Mum and I have been several times together, twice staying in a charming rented apartment in Arsenale, and after two consecutive years it is starting to become something of an annual pilgrimage.

The photos in this book are from our visits during May 2010 and 2011, and are not arranged in any chronological order but are grouped by subject and in some cases, colour. I have also omitted much geographical detail - this is not a guide book, but more a photographic record of my experience of Venice. I'm afraid that if you want to know "which church is that?" and "what is the name of that street" you have come to the wrong book. There are some labels but I have tried to keep them to a minimum, as my wish is for this book to be more about the visual than the words.

One final technical note: the photographs in this book were shot not with my DSLR but with my compact camera, the excellent Lumix LX3. It was refreshing not to have to heft around a weighty Nikon and additional lenses in the heat, and the compact can be set to shoot in square format which is a personal favourite of mine. I love the aesthetic balance that one achieves by 'shooting square', and the immensely satisfying compositions that can be achieved. There is only one rectangular format photograph in this book. I hope that you enjoy (all of) it.