WHO?
I started taking photographs in 2003 and quickly fell in love with the darkroom. I’m in love with film photography because the process is magic, the result is great and you don’t have the urgency to show your work straight away. I’m glad to be a member of AllFormat Collective since 2017. I don’t consider myself a street photographer now although in the beginning I spent quite a few years trying to pursue that path. These years helped me understand how to approach people and what I really loved about photography.
WHERE?
I usually bring my camera with me everywhere I go. I can always find something that captures my attention but I don’t shoot a lot. Sometimes I shoot a roll a day, many times it is just one a month.
WHEN?
When I became a father I had less time to invest into photography but yet I spent many nights thinking about it. At that time I started going through all of the negatives I already had, trying to make a sense out of all those photographs. I realized then, that my photographs weren’t about places, people, friends, but really about me and my thoughts, my dreams, my nightmares, about my feelings. In the past five years I started looking at photographs in a different way: the images (or sequences) are just a key for opening the door to my deepest thoughts and imagination. I like to think that people can find in my work something very intimate.
WHAT?
I don’t like to focus on one specific subject such as people, still life, street scenes. Everything can be interesting if looked at in the right way. I like to wander about and my kids help me a lot with that. I don’t go out hunting for the right shot, I only shoot when I feel the need of doing it, that’s why I always have my camera with me. That need could arise when I least expect it and I must be prepared. I believe that when you press the button to take a photograph holding onto your curiosity and amusement, when you go beyond composition, technique and let go of the fear of the final result, all you’re left with is something that is authentically yours and very personal. There’s something special about that type of photographs, the ones that require time to be fully understood. I spent the past few months working on a Christmas present for my sons. One day I invented a story to put them to sleep and they liked it so much they would keep asking me to tell that story. I decided to work on this. Last summer I shot rolls at the beach, of the seabed, flying seagulls etc. and together with them I collected algae, shells and feathers. For months I was in the darkroom mixing photography, rayography and some painting. The result is a children’s book I called “La favola dei pesciolini luccicanti” (The Tale of the shiny little fishes). This is very different from what I usually do but I found it very funny and creative.
WHY?
Photography to me is a great tool to understand more about myself. I love it when photographs have more than a beautiful image to them, when they make you reflect and give space to imagination.
