Quote of the Day

more Quotes

31 August 2011

Talented People

I'm lucky to be rounded by talented people, who are a great source of inspiration. Above them all there's Valentina Sasso, a lady who ventured in the photography field and is now slowly rocking the local Triestine scene in a very personal way.

Valentina in action

I love her unique style, the way she captures all the details we usually take for granted with beauty and elegance. I also admire her neat compositions. Everything seems to fall in a magical order and place in her photos, and that gives a sense of ease. 

She will be one of the tutors at the Photography course I enrolled to. I truly hope I'll be assigned to her group when the course kicks off in January. I'm looking forward to that.


In the meanwhile, Valentina kindly accepted to answer a few questions. I interviewd her for you, she has lot to share and I'm sure we'll hear about her some more in the future.


1. Hi Vale, tell us something about yourself.  

Hello! I'm 35, I work in publishing and I'm mom to Anna, a lively 6-year-old.  Like many women these days, my days are hectic with work, my daughter's activities, friends, who are very important for me, and - last but not least! - photography, which is both a personal passion and a professional commitment.

2. The first question is a must: how did you come across photography?
 

Looking back, I realize that photography has always been very present in my life. No one in my family had technique skills or was interested in it, but I haven't got a memory that isn't associated with an image taken from my parents. For me it was quite natural to begin to want to freeze the more interesting moments. What distinguished me from my friends was that I didn't click to have the memory of a trip, or of a day out, but I always tried to create attractive compositions, to capture very communicative facial expressions, to see perspectives that others didn't notice. This play with my vision of things lead me to buy an analog SLR, 15 years ago. Then I switched to digital SLR, which has amplified my desire to shoot, thanks to the thousand possibilities that digital offers.

3. Are there any experiences that influenced your approach to your artistic activity?

If we speak of artistic activity as a passion, I must say that the transition to digital was a turning point in my photographic production. Thanks also to the use of image editing programs, my imagination was able to express itself in all its exuberance. As for as my profession, I must thank the most popular social network: Facebook. By posting my photos in there, a person noticed me and contacted me for a photo shoot. Since then I work with his company in a continuos and very rewarding way. Another equally important experience for me was the photography course I took at the Triestine PhotoClub. I'm their partner now. This enabled me to deepen my technical knowledge, but also to compare myself with very experienced photographers, people of great humanity.
 
4. Helmut Newton says that "the desire to discover, the wish to move and the taste to capture are the three concepts that reassume the art of photography". What is your philosophy of photography? 

Helmut Newton is one of my favorite photographers, I recently saw his exhibition in Udine and certainly share his thoughts. Especially for the urge to move. When I photograph, what I try to do is to capture a detail that many don't notice, I try to create my own vision and perspective. Things change depending on the point of view from which you look. A photographer has the talent to find alternative points of view, original and personal. Therefore for me photography is proposing the reality through my eyes. 


5. What are your favorite things to photograph? 

I love people's faces, especially eyes. Just as the hands, they sometimes seem to speak. Overall I'm fascinated by all those details, in people as well as in architecture and nature. Things that are not noticed as a whole, but that are able to fascinate, when we stop to watch them. I could call myself "a lover of details."


6. What photographic equipment do you normally use for work?

My "kit" photo is not abundant, but before I purchase something else, I want to have an excellent command of what's already in my possession. I own two Nikon cameras, a D80 and a D3000. I have three lenses, a 50mm, a 18-105mm and a 28-70mm. For work I use mostly the 18-105mm, alternating it with the 50mm. This last one, I must admit, is giving me great satisfaction, makes me enjoy photography, and I think this is a beautiful thing for a photographer. 


(I must admit that I totally agree with Valentina here. I too love pics taken with my 50mm 1.8f lens. My skill is strengthned by this marvel. It forces me to compose every shot by moving and recomposing, so that you don't just take pics, you actually make them. And the result is better composition.) 

7. Is there a photo you're particularly attached to? And Why?

There are five or six pics whom I feel closely linked to, for several reasons, but the shot that is always with me, from which I feel represented, was taken to my daughter in London last summer. It was taken while she was playing with the splash of a fountain on the floor, barefoot with her dress pulled a bit not to get wet. I caught in a movement so graceful that she seems to be dancing, her fun and happy expression also gives a sense of harmony to the whole. I'm linked to this picture primarily because the subject is my baby, my treasure and a source of inspiration, then because I think I managed to find a good harmony. I'm happy with my result. 


8. Does the eye with which you capture the world change depending on the subject, or do all of your photos reflect your personal vision?

I think I have acquired my own personal style, I noticed that all my photos always have a common thread, be it the composition, the angle or the perspective. Then it's natural that I can change the tone of photography depending on the subject, but I think -and I hope- that my personality can be distingueshed regardless. 

 9. Do you do much editing?

It depends. There are photos that I retouch a lot, but in my mind they already come with the specific intent to be further retouched in a certain way. And when I retouch, I do it heavily. Not because I want to correct or camouflage, but because I want to 'paint' it, to make it look a different kind of art. To me there's a neat barrier between photography and retouching and I enjoy this last one very much.


10. If you had to photograph a celebrity, who would you choose?

I've photographed famous people and I can say that I didn't love it. Maybe because we were not in the studio for a book, but outside during events, awards and so on, perhaps because some celebrity snob amateurs, perhaps because I am not as brave as a paparazzi. Thing is I think portraying ordinary people is much more interesting. If I had to choose, I'd portray some sport celeb. 


11. What do you capture better and what would you like to improve?

I better capture details, peculiar things others don't see. I would like to improve in many things! In technique, mainly, but also in the composition. I'm very instinctive, but I would like to be able to build a set and get the same result. I'm working on it. 


12. Which photographers of the past, or still alive, have influenced the way you photograph? And whom do you admire in particular? 

The photographer who inspired me the most is undoubtedly Henri Cartier-Bresson. His way of shooting is unique, because hecaptures common moments of life also with a great emotional power. Also, I really love the pictures of my compatriot Wanda Wulz: a woman of great imagination, with a vision of reality for the modern era.

13. Which books and magazines published your images? And where can we view your photos?

Some of my photographs were published by "Twenty-Four", the monthly magazine Il Sole 24 ore, Rivacamperio Style, Il Piccolo. Through the internet you can see my picture on the website of the Circolo Fotografico Triestino, in various Flickr albums, especially the photostream of the company I work for, Illycaffe. And then I have my Facebook Page, where you're invite to browse. 

14. Would you like to choose a shot from your portfolio and tell us "what is behind" it? 

It took me a while to choose this shot but in the end, I prefer it not because it was the prettiest, or most difficult, or more elaborate. I chose it because it's part of that genre of photography that I love, photography that communicates, photography that tells a story, photography that evokes emotions. Photography is a metaphor in some way, because a still image, to be able to tell a story, must be able to evoke memories, feelings, scents. My photo was taken last summer in Cambridge (UK). I was on board of one of those open buses that tour the city when, suddenly, I saw this scene. Taking my camera and capturing the moment was instinctive. My goal is to touch people with emotions, regardless of the object that I choose, because I think that every image, seen from a particular angle, may evoke some emotion. 


15. Finally, leave a thought or some advice to those approaching the world of photography today.

Trying to capture an emotion is difficult, but with photography it can be done, because the picture is a friend, a shelter, and sometimes even a goal. The only advice I can give, from the small of my experience, is to not click the "nonsense", but think about what you want. And above all ... you never stop learning!

Valentina and her beautiful daughter Anna
Thank you, Valentina, for your precious time with us today and for these lovely words. I think they speak by themselves about your soul. The world should be more populated with skilled people like you, really! 


For more of her photographs, please view: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.


Mr Genius

Translating two of my favorite poems of Eugenio Montale, the man who has "always knocked at the door of that wonderful and terrible enigma which is life."


I think of your smile, and it is for me like clear water
found adventurously among the rocks of a river bed,
small mirror from which you look an ivy and its corymbs;
and the peaceful embrace of a white sky above all.

This is my memory; I cold not tell, oh far,
if your face is an expression of a naive soul,
you are the wonder that soothes the evil of the world
and bears its pain like a talisman.

But this I can tell you, that your effigy
overwhelms my troubles in a calm wave, 
and that your looks creep into my gray memory
straight like the top of a young palm ...

§§§

 I stepped, offering my arm to you, at least one million stairs
and now that you're not there anymore there's void at each step.
Our juorney was short even in this way. 
Mine is still going on, I need no more
coincidences, reservations,
traps, the shame of those who believe 
that reality is what they see.

I stepped millions of stairs giving you my arm
 not just because eyes see more.
I stepped them with you because I knew that, between us,
the only true pupils, though so blurred,
were yours.



"Unfortunately, the genius does not speak with his lips. The genius leaves some paw prints like a snowshoe hare."

Read Kiddo Read!

A few more shots of my reading baby. She's getting more and more obsessed with reading, consequence of the fact we read to her since she was born, of our books everywhere and because she constantly sees us reading too? I don't mind, as long as she keeps reading!


"Hey Alice, do you still want to be a waitress?"
"Mmmh, yeah! Or maybe a reader. Or an explorer. I don't know. Maybe a reader is much more interesting!"



30 August 2011

Little differences

"I'm tired of Aurora, mom. She always tries to distract MY friends from me!"
"Maybe she does that because she's insecure. She won't last long. People will start minding in the long run."
"Yeah, especially guys. Guys know who's purest at heart."
"Unfortunately not everyone, baby."
"Oh. Well, then they better behave ... or else!"

29 August 2011

Instants

"We don't remember days, we remember moments." Cesare Pavese
There are moments I can't capture with my digital SRL. Though it's always around, the better carpe diem moments are the ones taken with my iPod, embellished with Instagram Application afterwards. They may not be technically executed, but their visual appeal is intact and they're even more attractive because they captured the emotion or sensation of the minute. I like the simplicity that comes from these applications. They make the world a better place.

Sleepy afternoon (me and Alice)
Devoured Prosek in Hvar, Dalmatia
Embarking to Bol (Brac Island) with Alfie
Lovely afternoon lights
My precious jewel on a train to Milan
Finally some rain!
 My friend Ande, an Estonian currently living in Switzerland, has a special talent for taking pics with her iPhone. I always admire the shots she shares on Facebook during her frequent trips around the globe. She let me share them with you here, and I selected some of my favorite photos. 


I personally think these are unique masterpieces. You've an innate sense of beauty, Ande! It couldn't be otherwise, considering the sweet, sensitive and beautiful person you are. Thank you!

27 August 2011

Photogenic Milan

This summer has been very proficient in terms of trips, hey! We keep dreaming and planning because there's so much we want to see. Travelling is the ultimate joy for me. I don't care if we don't buy expensive clothes or gourmet food as long as we can afford exploring new places. Some trips come unexpected, too, like the recent one we took to Milan. 

The terrible heat wave that is obsessing Italy these days didn't stop us from moving around the city, which was desert and reasonably walkable. Milanese were out vacationing and the streets belonged to obstinate tourists like us and to bored shop assistants and waitrers. 

Being back was cool. The fact I lived there for a year when I worked in Bocconi University in 2000 makes me familiar with all the places and I know how to move around. I noticed 2 main things. One is all the renovations they are doing in view of the Expo 2015 that is going to be held there. And two, a reinforced and fully working system of bike-sharing. There are not enough cycling paths yet, but I saw a concrete plan of building more. Pisapia's team is working well. Yahoos!


We used our 2 days there to re-visit all the major attractions. The Sforzesco Castle with its surrounding Sempione Park, the magnificient Duomo, via Dante and its medieval palaces, Brera area with all its vivid night life and then, of course, the Gallery. 


What caused more interest in me this time was the Fashion District. I always snobbed it somewhere, always found ridiculous to go posh-watching around a pretentious area that is outrageously offensive towards all the people who earn standard salaries. But my passion for photography makes those nosense items irresistible now. Luxury is utterly photogenic. Sigh-sigh! 


It was straight after sunset, quiet, perfect for browsing around armed with a camera and a noisy child. At least, now I know these items are truly insane. I mean, who is going to go out and about dressed like Lady Gaga? It's something I don't even dream daring in my next adventurous life.

And prices are pure folly, ca va sans dire. 11000 euros for an Armani coat, just to name something. No, thank you! I prefer 2 cultural trips around the globe for that sum. Show me more brands that are making a difference in this world to help the poor, like Louis Vuitton seems to be doing, and I'll start looking at them with a less skeptical negative approach. 

Food was a visual feast for the eyes (and for the palate). Now, that's what I prefer above shopping :)

Octopus in tomato sauce
Spaghetti with clams and mussels
Panino with mozzarella and tomato
Ice-cream, of course!

Fortunately I don't have to go back all the way to Milan to enjoy these, Italian food is excellent everywhere. Nutritious, delicious, tasty healthy food we have here. At least! LOL
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...