Interview by Agnese Sbaffi, photography editor – Rome
Can you please tell us a little more about yourself. Where do you live?
I live in Rome since I decided that I would become a photographer. There, I studied Photography and I became a member of CameraOscura, an association that takes care of photography and fine art printing.
How did you start taking pictures? What was your very first influence?
I started out like everyone else. My mom (in my opinion a great photographer) has a Konika of the 70s and an enlarger. So I started to take pictures and print them alone in the cellar. My great masters were Ansel Adams for the print, Robert Capa and, above all, Mario Giacomelli as author. However, I think I have really started taking pictures only when I bought my first analog camera compact, several years after the discovery of Konica. I had definitely a lot more awareness than before, but at the same time I wanted to get away from everything I had learned, and try to create my own look.That was the moment I started a real photographic journey.
In a portrait, what is important for you?
Quoting Anders Petersen in an interview:”the first responsibility that a photographer must have, it is to himself.”
I think it’s very important, at least for me, because if I do not respect myself, I can not have respect for the subject in front of me (be it a human being, an animal or a landscape). To do this, I think, you need to be very clear with yourself, and try to love yourself in a more or less healthy. Only then the others will enjoy what you do.
What kind of relationship do you have with your subject when you shoot?
In doing portraits, I need to establish some type of relationship (even short) that is based on the intimacy and mutual trust between me and the subject. At the same time, there must be a distance, a sort of protection for me and the subject. Photography, sometimes, is a vector of many emotions, and not all want or are ready to try them.
Do you think it’s important to follow a school to learn how to shoot?
I think it is useful, but not essential attending to a school. You can learn many things (but not all) in other ways, and the most important one is by getting into the game. In my personal experience, I have seen that partecipate in a workshop with a photographer, in which you are interested, is very useful and interesting. In this case, the relationship that you create with the other participants of the workshop is very good: I have always had a very deep discussion and exchange.
What’s the photo you want to take and you never did?
The photo I want to take is a portrait of my sister. Until now, it has not happened, because she’s very shy and me too.
