Table of Contents
Tell us about your first introduction to photography. What drew you into this world?
I was very early attracted to photography as certainly many children. At the time, there was something fascinating about photography, we took the time to compose the image, everyone posed, we had to wait for the development of the image, and the photo was an object we loved to handle as a family. All that long process and effort to have a split second frozen on a piece of paper. I remember having always dreamed of first using the photographic tool.
I have always had an attraction for cameras, I have also collected them for a long time. It was during adolescence that I really had a need to devote myself to the practice of photography and to report on my perception of the world through this medium. At 16, I scraped together all my savings to buy my first DSLR, a Pentax, with a fixed focal length. I took all the photos of my friends and family for their greatest happiness, at the time the image quality was breathtaking and I was already spotted as the “photographer” of the area. I already had a passion for so-called “humanist” photography and images of Doisneau were displayed on the walls of my room.
Do you remember your first shot? What was it?
I don’t particularly remember my first photo because it must have been uninteresting. When we receive equipment, generally the first thing we do is make “test shots” of our environment to test the settings, and develop the grip of the device, we take our feet, the flowers, the street, and the food in the kitchen…etc.
I particularly remember my first times on the street trying to take pictures of people I didn’t know. At the time it was very difficult to be inspired by other people, and access to information on the net was much more difficult. I developed this approach as an autodidact, with the only benchmarks being the photos of great street photographers.
When you’re a teenager, it’s not easy to go out into the street and testify about what’s going on there. There is always a part of the unknown, a stressful part because we expose ourselves to the other, to their questions…etc. But I very quickly confirmed that this was what I wanted to do: to report on the theater of life, to become a bit of a historian of what was happening around me, thanks to photography.
Your work focuses on Street photography, did you try any other types of photography? Which one(s)?
It was when I was a student in Rome that I began to perfect my practice of street photography. I was part of a small university collective and we were exhibited at the rectorate for the commemoration of 150 years of the unification of Italy.
My entourage, on the other hand, quickly noticed that I was able to take candid photos and asked me for various events. I started taking wedding photos like I did street photography: photos taken on the spot, like a report.
Word of mouth quickly paid off because I did a lot of wedding photography throughout France, I was very mobile. This allowed me to pay for my studies while practicing an art that I loved. Besides that, I did odd jobs that were not necessarily very interesting, but I always found a way to bring my camera and trace the lives of the people who worked in the style of a documentary. It also joined my desire at the time to become a photojournalist.I became a psychologist instead, a kind of historian of what happens at the intrapsychic level, which feeds my approach to photography
Who or what influenced you?
As I said, the whole movement of “humanist” street photographers influenced me a lot: Robert Doisneau, Robert Capa, Henri Cartier Bresson, Willy Ronis, Brassai…etc. In parallel with photography, I was also very interested and influenced by music, cinema, painting, my reading…etc. I think that when you practice an art, everything can become a source of influence and the mediums feed each other. I learned a lot about color theory, for example by practicing sketches and watercolors and drawing inspiration from the painter John Singer Sargent, among others.
What details do you believe make the best photographs?
For me, the best photos are a cocktail of 4 ingredients: light, composition, decisive moment, and storytelling. It is often difficult to have more than 2 of these elements at the same time, especially outside the studio, when you do not master anything. But a few photos have succeeded in this miracle, and this is, in my opinion, the best.
How do you educate yourself to take better photos?
The best way to educate your gaze is to practice, again and again. It’s gymnastics. I also like to look at the photos of the great current photo reporters. I used to get a lot of inspiration on social networks, but I find that the quality of the photos is very uneven, the more we are bombarded with lots of content that has no interest.
To support photographers and have a more precise vision of the work they have accomplished, I regularly invest in photo books in which I love to immerse myself. It’s a good way to train too, to try to see the world through the point of view of another photographer, and to try to understand it. My latest photobooks: Gustavo Minas and Lorenzo Catena
What was the best piece of advice you were given starting out?
Always have your camera on you. How many opportunities have I missed because I forgot it? It is now always in my bag, I am ready to draw it whatever the situation. The more I have my device on me, the more I use it, the more I practice, the more I forge my gaze, and the more I do work that corresponds to my objectives.
You are known for street photography? What draws your initial interest in a place?
I just follow my instinct, I have no particular plan in mind when I go to the streets. The light is always changing, depending on the season, the time of day, the weather…etc.
The atmosphere is different too. Often I follow the light, I go where the rays of the sun illuminate the streets. I like crowds or, conversely, deserted places. I wander randomly in the street agreeing to be surprised. When I see an interesting scene, I can camp a little on the spot, working on the different framings, until the scene has nothing more to offer.
What equipment do you use?
I had a lot of photographic equipment during my “career”. But I returned to a piece of more minimalist equipment. It’s very simple, the only thing I need: is a camera and a fixed lens! It is often when we are limited that our creativity expresses itself to the maximum. I use a fujifilm X-Pro 3 and an XF 23mm F2 lens. And that’s all!
Do you spend a lot of time editing your work? Why?
I use Fujifilm because they are known to have a very interesting treatment of jpegs. It saves me a huge amount of time when I’m not working on a specific project. I load a film simulation and my photos are usable Straight or of camera. I quickly understood that any editing will never catch up with a photo that is not good at the base. The time I save not editing my photos, I use it in the field to compose. When I have bigger projects, I spend more time in Lightroom or Capture One trying to get my photos to look as true to the memory I have of the moment I shot.
