“Photography” is not about “Photography”, it’s about you!

Marc De Tollenaere is a photographer based in Venice, Italy, proud to be part of the Leica Akademie Italy.

His last book “One, no one and fifty thousand” about the last inhabitants of Venice portrayed in their homes, sold out in few weeks and it’s now a collector’s choice.

He started his career in 2003 with a great Master of Italian photography: Gianni Berengo Gardin. In the following years he had as mentors some of the greatest authors on the international scene, such as David Alan Harvey, Alex Majoli (Magnum Photos), Kent Kobersteen (National Geographic photo editor), Bob Sacha (National Geographic), Antonin Kratochvil (VII agency), Anders Petersen and Arno Minkkinen.

He was distinguished photographer in the Day’s Japan World Photojournalistic Award in 2005 with the reportage made in Kolkata, India, “Children of the city of joy” and distinguished photographer in the Italian Professional Award in 2008 with the reportage on “Treviso Christian Centre”.

He exhibited in Photokina Köln 2008, in Photoshow Rome 2010, in Bassano Fotografia 2011 together with Douglas Kirkland and in the Leica Galerie in Milan in 2015.

From 2010 he organizes and holds photographic workshops in India, Nepal, Burma, Vietnam, Iceland, Turkey, and Cambodia.

In 2014 he got the license for Tour Leader in Venice and, since then, he holds Private Photo Tours and Photo Walks in Venice.

Since 2014 he has joined the small group of teachers of the prestigious Leica Akademie Italy. He has also been a Leica Ambassador since 2014.

In 2015 his photos were chosen for the “28mm Street” exhibition at the Leica Galerie in Milan together with works by Eliott Erwitt, William Klein, Joel Meyerowitz, Craig Semetcko and Matt Stuart.

In 2020 the images were selected for the book “Inspiration Leica Akademie” and exhibited at Leica headquarters in Wetzlar, Germany.

During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 he photographed a deserted Venice and collaborated with the French national television TF1.

The collaboration with TF1 continued in 2021 with various reports: on large ships in Venice , on the Historical Regatta and in 2022 on the effects of climate change on the lagoon.

In April 2021 Rai3 Geo dedicated a report to him, filming him photographing in homes, entitled "The Last Venetians", also translated for French and German television.

In 2022 he published with Biblos the book "One, no one and fifty thousand - inside Venetians’ houses", a project that lasted ten years, concerning the last inhabitants of the city.