The Duchess of Devonshire 德文郡公爵夫人

This year, I am quite lucky to meet a few celebrities at the Venice Carnevale and photograph them. It is quite an open secret that celebrities often turn up at the Venice Carnevale to join in the festivities. Apparently Lady Gaga was here this year as well, but I am not sure if I have actually seen her.

This is the immensely beautiful Anna Carlotta, better known as the Duchess of Devonshire, an actress well-known for her beauty and love for historical costumes.

Her costume this time is so simple, yet so beautiful, and her poses all so natural.

The title of her costume is Sicillian Widow.

A Sicilian widow, engrossed in her solitude, darkness and silence. Death has robbed her of love....

In Sicilly, people who choose to go into mourning wear all black, without any jewellery. Widows usually wear black for the rest of their lives, especially the elderly. Adult children of the deceased typically wear black for one year as a sign of respect, but this has become a personal choice rather than a duty.

The concept of a Sicilian widow can be explored through various artistic mediums, such as the painting "M'haju allibbirari" (meaning "I have to free myself" - Sicilian dialect) which depicts a Sicilian widow in solitude, darkness, and silence, using painting as a way to express the pain of loss.

The 2012 Fall collection by Dolce and Gabbana was based on the concept of the Sicillian Widow. They have repeatedly glamorized the Sicilian widow—“that severe woman,” as Isabella Rossellini described her in Vanity Fair, “dressed in black that you see in the cinema of Italian Neo-Realism”—often by making playful references to the fabric of her gown.

The salt-laced Venetian air, so different from the sun-baked earth of Sicily, did little to soothe Anna's aching heart. A year had passed since the sea claimed her husband, leaving her adrift in a world suddenly devoid of color. Now, cloaked in the deepest black, the sharp lines of her widow's attire a stark contrast to the shimmering silks around her, she found herself a stranger in Venice. She’d followed her brother-in-law, Antonio, hoping the bustling city, with its labyrinthine canals and whispered secrets, might offer a new purpose, a distraction from the gnawing grief. But the vibrant mask of Venetian society felt like a mocking reminder of the life she had lost, a life brimming with sun and laughter now buried beneath the waves. Here, amongst the ornate palazzos and gondoliers’ songs, she was simply "la vedova siciliana," a Sicilian widow, an outsider forever on the periphery.

The Venice Carnevale is not solely about masks. Local Italians and an increasing number of foreign costumers now prefer historical costumes or painted faces. During Carnevale, the whole Venice becomes a real life theatrical stage, and many of these historical costumes carry deep perspectives...

And as usual, the portraits are just done on the busy streets of Venice and using natural lighting only...