One of the words that has become increasingly common in recent months is overtourism: a genuine scourge for certain cities, which are becoming increasingly overwhelmed by visitor numbers that have reached unsustainable levels. According to a report by Healthy Travel and Healthy Destinations (HTHD), Venice is the world capital of overtourism, with an astonishing ratio of 73.8 tourists per resident across the historic city and the mainland. This figure is even more significant when we consider that many of these visitors are day-trippers.

I photographed some of the Venetians who continue to live and resist in their city, surrounded by a constantly moving crowd. Around them, a human sea churns like a storm, threatening to engulf and sweep away the people portrayed. Venice thus becomes a hostile, claustrophobic city, where the mass of visitors deprives residents of their vital space and carries away, like a raging river, the souls of those who still call it home.