WHO?
I am a graphic designer born in Madrid to an American father and an Italian mother. I have been very inspired by my mother’s social photography, as well as by one of my three brothers who used to shoot on the streets during the 70’s and 80’s. However, now that I look back, I think my turning point with photography happened while in college (first in NYC then in London), where I fell in love with it spending much of my spare time both on the street and in the darkroom. The birth of my only daughter also got me going quite obsessively taking photos of her every day. She is 21 now, and I still harass her with no pity whatsoever.
WHERE?
Wherever, but Madrid and Rome are the two cities where I spend most time shooting. Of course I do travel elsewhere but I try not to get obsessed if I don’t, and rather concentrate and enjoy my everyday finding moments or whatever will capture my attention, be it in my neighborhood or far away. As I don’t take myself too seriously, the real purpose for me is to have fun ‘people- watching’.
WHEN?
I seldom go out without a compact camera in my handbag, which very recently has become a Ricoh GRIII. So even if I have to go out for a quick errand, one never knows what can happen in a short distance from home to the grocery store. Having said this, there are times of the day where I feel more comfortable shooting. I feel the light at sunset is more oriented to what I look for in terms of geometrical shapes and shadows. But I try very hard not to get put-off when the weather or time of day are not ideal: one never knows, and strangely enough the unexpected and surprises usually come on days like these.
WHAT?
Whatever makes my heart beat or is appealing to my sight, thus using my gut feeling as one of my biggest allies. This may very well be a face-hand-leg expression/movement; an interesting composition; a coincidence; a comic or surreal moment; a dominant color, etc. I am really open to everything and everybody. But I must admit that because of my design background and my interest in the Bauhaus movement, I sometimes find myself very frustrated looking for order where most of the times it is an impossible task. This is why I think being in touch with so many different and excellent photographers around, as happens with my collective colleagues at La Calle es Nuestra or with my close photographer friends, does me so much good. I am learning to let go, and hope I will slowly get nearer to what I think I actually want. Who knows!
WHY?
My attraction to cities, their people and the many stories that take place on the streets have made this genre fun, challenging and an obsessive part of my life. There is also a magical feeling which makes it even more exciting and mysterious: there are times when one turns randomly around, right at the very second something interesting is going on behind us. Besides this, I have also found it a way to escape from my daily issues and being such an insecure, impulsive and extrovert person, my street wandering helps me both calm down or — on the contrary — makes my heart pound to release my adrenalin. Either way, I find it all extremely fascinating.
