IT HAS BEEN A PARTICULAR YEAR. AND I WANT TO SHARE IT WITH YOU.

The year opened with an invitation to be one of the speakers and protagonists at Orvieto 2018, a 3 days international event organized by FIOF. Thanks to FIOF, my work has been exhibited this year in Orvieto and also in Barletta along with Masters of Photography like Francesco Cito, Ivo Saglietti, Graziano Perotti and I became a partner and FIOF ambassador in the world. This year my work has been exhibited also at the Alte Kongresshalle in München during the PICTAday 2018.

This year has been intense and extreme. If from a professional point of view it was in many ways extraordinary, on a personal level I was on a roller coaster. Even if there were difficult times this did not interfere with the energy poured into the work.

In May and June I was in Italy, where I have found a great success with my ITALIA DOLCE VITA WORKSHOPS. Palermo, Milano, Roma: 4 workshops with fantastic people who assisted. I was able to continue my project there, meeting friends and having fun.

Between July and August I was in Oaxaca, covering the Guelaguetza. 10 days super intense and extreme, where I experienced unique situations and realized several photo stories. My dedication with photojournalism has been highly confirmed through my commitment fo the agencies I collaborate, and I back to work with NGOs. 

New projects are born and I can see an evolution in my path as photographer. I still don’t know where it will take me. As an educator I launched new photographic courses, for example I am back to propose the online street photography workshops.

This year things have happened that left me with the charge of having only touched them: for example Bild contacted me because they would me covering an event in Mexico but at that time I was in Italy…great honor to me, but I really would be able to do it. For the ones don’t know Bild is the the best-selling newspaper in Europe.

PERSONAL NOTES ON HOW IT WORKS THIS NEW PROJECT IDEA

FORM: AESTHETICS AND MINDSET

Apparently unstudied snapshots. 

The photos will reveal themselves with more careful examination. 

They need to be on a compositional level calculated and balanced.

Deep consideration of framing.

Lines and colors chosen to emphasize the formal qualities of the place.

FOCUS: PROJECT GOAL

Visual diary, communicating my own experience.

To communicate the everyday in front of my eyes, in oder to present to the viewers atmosphere and sensations of the places and objects in the photographs.

Light and composition need to evoke feelings to the viewer.

 

CHALLENGE: DIFFICULTIES AND CONSIDERATIONS

Color is perceived, more than black and white, with a snapshot connotation.

Can still striking a certain approach to urban landscape photography  today? In 1975 some Los Angeles – based photographers presented a new approach to landscape photography in the exhibition New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape.  They presented images of often banal subjects such as strip malls or power lines.  They changed the course and the idea people did have until that moment of landscape photography.

References to me are Robert Adams, Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, Guido Guidi, Joel Meyerowitz, Luigi Ghirri, Wim Wenders, Joel Sternfeld, Jean-Marc Bustamante. Quotidian imagery of Mexico landscape in front of my eyes, are now renewed by proposing a work in color.

I teached urban landscape photography at University in the past. I strongly believe the urban landscape photography has a political character, as Robert Adams himself showed us. I see this project as a documentary work, where I will have the opportunity to communicate something that goes beyond the aesthetic nature of showing places and moments in Mexico.

I am happy to share this case study with my readers. You appeciated the previous one on the synopsis of the new project. I hope this will be appeciated too.

WHAT I AM DOING WITH THIS BLOG IS AMBITIOUS AND IT STARTS FROM AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION: STREET PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE MORE INTELLIGENT OF HOW THEY ARE CONSIDERED

I am proposing technique articles on this blog pretty different by the most of the blogs you find out of here. It is a philosophic approach to master the technique, a technique always put at the service of the events in front of us. Something my students are familiar because I don’t use a standardized method of teaching.

The evolution of my photographic process involves a lot of walking around, really lived life, and I am focused in collecting events happening  in front of my eyes that can tell a story, interesting, in my opinion.

David Lynch, filmmaker, photographer, musician helps with this statement:

“An idea comes — and you see it, and you hear it, and you know it… We don’t do anything without an idea. So they’re beautiful gifts. And I always say, you desiring an idea is like a bait on a hook — you can pull them in. And if you catch an idea that you love, that’s a beautiful, beautiful day. And you write that idea down so you won’t forget it. And that idea that you caught might just be a fragment of the whole — whatever it is you’re working on — but now you have even more bait. Thinking about that small fragment — that little fish — will bring in more, and they’ll come in and they’ll hook on. And more and more come in, and pretty soon you might have a script — or a chair, or a painting, or an idea for a painting. More often than not, in small fragments…”

Photography to me is essentially an emotional reaction. End of the story. When I pressed the shutter button I have or I don’t have the photograph I wanted. Just like all the photographers. But then, as writer of things about photography and as an educator I have another mission to carry forward. 

To be a writer too, makes me different from only photographers. This is a fact. I am not afraid of words. I think we need more contents of a certain cultural level. Let’s stop to feed SEO posts where THE NOTHING is celebrated, because Street Photographers need respect, and they don’t need really of stupid rankings. This also generated the kindergarden of today, that street photography bubble unuseful or useful only to the ones thinking lensculture is something serious. 

We have to question our photos. We need to get a real cognitive semiotics approach to the analysis of street photos in order to understand what is valid and what is not. We need to stop to celebrate stuff that does not communicate anything and therefore is not commentable from its own author. If you are not able to talk about your photograph, well, is very likely that it is not a good photo. A photographer should be a man not only for action but also for thought. A person with culture and not lensculture, if you know what I mean. 

On this blog, as my followers and readers know, I don’t think for SEO strategies. This blog is for the ones looking for something more ambitious. I am receiving a lot of congrats for this and I would let you know, you dear reader of this blog, you are the inspiration to make this possible. 

For the opening of this article presents 2 photos where the motivation to photograph has been the same: I was interested to the expressions of the conversers. Something it can be a minor reason to the most, but not to me. As a photo consumer I love the ability of Richard Kalvar to evoke the atmosphere of a conversation, captured in the street. The framing and composition of these photograph turns the other elements present on the scene as indispensable elements of contextualization, presented as an element of life that flows around. A classic everyday happening in the streets of any part of the world, yet still interesting in my eyes for my intention to document Oaxaca. 

The mindset is a relevant part in any photograph we do. It influences the photograph much more than we can think of. In the photographs I do I always worry about having a positive attitude towards the work I am doing. Despite a lot of people with cameras is focused on technical aspects, these are a really a definitely not pre-weighting part in my concentration. And my attention to the formal aspect of composition is constantly connected with the ideas about the story and what I am seeing in front of my eyes.

A static car in a street. Not that much, right? Yet this often motivates me to shoot. A note of absence often catches my eye. I this case I was attracted by the wall that I photographed without the car the day before:

Sometimes I am attracted and I use intense surfaces where the sensation of the material is almost palpable.

It is an approach and a particular mindset that I used to focus on cetain aspects on the work realized for the set Città Fantasma:

You can check out that work here:

La Città Fantasma

In the case of the photo take in Poggioreale proposed here I used the window and the door to get the viewer to wonder what is beyond. It is a easy way to make this in that particular situation of those abandoned buildings, and  creating in the viewer’s mind the desire to continue to see the image, looking inside the window, and oveall inside the door. The wall structure is palpable,  helping the viewer to wander around the image. In a way less strong and impactful, the previous images with or without the car can let the viewe question about what’s behind the wall.

I have thought a lot about sharing my opinion about this happening.

The in public faida has become public knowledge by choice of direct protagonists. And this blog certainly counts street photography as a recurring theme. Furthermore I have to say that in public website was one of the few exisiting when I started to make street photos and all over the years I always considered the collective as one of the places where a martian should check out in order to receive the imprinting of what street photography is. 

With hindsight, I am not even that sure. This is because when you mature a certain experience and the tastes inevitably evolve you get aware there is not, never, a bible to follow. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t want to cancel all the merits that the site of the collective has at all, but  at the same time, I think they contributed to a certain idea of street photography, almost always based on hunting for the unicorn, of the absurd moment, or to say with words used by Nick Turpin, with a smile in the head. Of the same period, and one of the first collectives, before the big wave and the fashion of street photography, it is the Mignon collective from Padova and they, as Italians, have always favored a different taste and approach, more focused on classic reportage, linked to poetry and at the same time to documentary.

The ridiculous fact of these hours is not coming from the in public faida, but from those who, watchers,  have decided to stand up for one or the other, with a large majority in favor of Blake to tell the truth…It is so typical of these times, where unknown characters allow themselves to cut judgments on other photographers, or proposing rankings expressing only a kindergarten attitude.

I really don’t see the need to place me on one side or the other. First of all because the real actors in the game doesn’t care about what I think. And then because I think we should stop to be as supporters of football teams when it comes to photography. Photography is self expression, first of all. And the variables are very many and different. 

I would point on other aspects of the story: first of all, what is a collective? I am the founder of 2 collectives, noise, created in 2014 altogether with Michael Ernest Sweet, and since a year of la.strada. and I never imposed any particular guideline, especially on the photos to publish. Who am I to say what a photographer should publish? Also: I always thought that a collective shouldn’t be a trap for creativity and self expression. Any photographer in a collective is there to make his contribution, but the principle of autodetemination should never fail, because it dosn’t matter if the collective is moe documentay or more focused on an artistic inspiration: photographers are creative, and anyone has several periods, evolutions, changes of inspiration and approach.

We also should consider a fact: we can stay at a round table for a lifetime discussing about what is street photography and eveyone will have his own idea. This is the good and the bad of this genre, the good because street photography is essentially anarchism based on our own mindset and most of the time based on trespassing the rules. The bad because exactly for this reason there are contrasts and religious factions.

Blake Andrews in his open letter to Nick Turpin (the two opposing sides) has, in my opinion, his winning points when he argues:

“Every camera sees the world in its own way, and that way is often different from what the eye sees. I believed at the time and continue to believe that dissonance to be very exciting. It is, on some level, the root of why I photograph.”

I really hear that statement. We should also consider an important fact: Blake Andrews has been clear about how the photo was generated, but even if it had not been…what would have changed of the perception that one has?

The issue, should be another one. And this is just my opinion. Usually I’m not impressed by a technical aspect to the point of giving all the specific weight of the value of a photo. For my way of looking at and understanding a photograph, a fish eye lens is most of the time an issue because it calls too much attention to how the photo was made. Its form and lens distortions overwhelm the content. To the point it results distracting. Guess what? It is the same happening with the Blake Andrews photo. In my opinion I see a moment not very interesting,  showing nothing very important happening, and a technical error of the camera can’t give a value to a photo in my opinion. I am open mind with imperfections in a photograph, also due to a lens or a particular camera that generates a particular imbalance in the form, but it can’t be anything, if the content is missing. But I am sure also Blake Andrews doesn’t think we are in front of a great picture. It is pretty forgettable, indeed, if it were not for the chaos generated.

About the technical issue generated all this war, the in public wa, I would add that also black and white is a deformation of reality, and when we talk about reality in photography we should be aware that is impossible to think to a objective reality. Garry Winogrand stated: Photography is about finding out what can happen in the frame. When you put four edges around some facts, you change those facts. And I add that is the great thing of photography.

A photograph will be always an artifact, filtered or mediated, by the choices of the photographer, and of course the  technology used: if Bresson used another camera and lens the photos would be resulted different. If I would start to use the flash on the streets my photography would change drastically. It is a fact. An incontrovertible fact. 

To my eyes also the new picture of the month is deceptioning. With all the respect for Matt Stuart, that photo is in my opinion not very different from the average we see every single day in street photography groups. I am not surprised. Today street photography at best it is underexposed photos with black piece backgrounds, flash shots, ironic juxtapositions, color couplings and overlays of objects. It is the reason why perfect strangers, with very little visual culture, judge outdated Willy Ronis, Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander or even Henri Cartier- Bresson and they raise nosense and dumb pictures to modernity.

This post doesn’t want to be judgmental, although it has already done it in some passages.

I would also highlight the absurd of the results who see outside the collective the founder Nick Turpin and Nils Jorgensen. The absurd is that street photography is not photojournalism, where a deontological and ethical code is required. The Magnum agency has never ousted Steve McCurry when he was caught several times to alter photographs heavily and also quite rough, by removing secondary elements but also whole foreground subjects. Where we expected greater rigor, nothing happened.

It is happened in a street photography collective, one of the historical ones too.

To document yourself about the story:

THE PHOBLOGRAPHER

NICK TURPIN ON BLAKKAMERA

OPEN LETTER BY BLAKE ANDREWS

 

 

Have you noticed that are always made blogs on the masters but rarely on some project of the masters?

This blog wants to celebrate some of the works are a constant reference to me.

STEPHEN SHORE – LOS ANGELES

This is simply a masterpiece when it comes to certain instintive and smart photography. The work in Los Angeles, in black and white of Stephen Shore is less known than his urban color, yet it represents for me the essence of a certain street photography that I love.

LINK

LEE FRIEDLANDER – NUDES

The master of social landscape showed with the work on the nudes an energy and an intensity that are rarely seen even in the best erotic photography. This is also one of the reasons why he is one of my absolute favorites. I share the links to purchase the books on amazon. The price of both is human.

LINK

LINK 2

FERDINANDO SCIANNA – MARPESSA

The work realized by Scianna with Marpessa Hennink is the constant reference to me when it comes to portrait photography. Poetry, elegance and sensuality enclosed in a gem of photographic work that is already immortal.

LINK

GARRY WINOGRAND – WOMEN ARE BEAUTIFUL

I visited in Mexico City 2 times the exhibition Women Are Beautiful, the inspiring work of 1975. Could I forget this masterpiece?

LINK

Maybe this post will deserve other volumes. There are a lot of woks and photographers I consider fundamental for me. And I think is pretty interesting to share them with my readers.

Mario Dondero, a great reference to me, said 2 great truths:

“one thinks of using more sophisticated lenses when the content is missing.”

The other one is about the available light, “because photography done with natural light is another thing“.

To see few frames where Henri Cartier-Bresson is in action is also important. He, the master of all of us, walking and hiding the camera, ready to take it out at the last moment. Bresson had a maniacal in his utterance that the photographer should not have noticed, even that the photographer should avoid to show his face as much as possibile…think about this when sometimes we remember more tha face of the photographer than his photographs…

Edward Furlong, in Pecker, a movie by John Waters, showed the photomania, photographing people of his neighborhood. A maniac too. 

I think photography can be a way to preserve sanity. Or vent certain impulses.

Street Photography is an impulse too. I need it. 

MY WORK IS A FLOW

When Ferdinando Scianna accepted to work for Dolce & Gabbana, many were against it: the documentary photographers spitting against the frivolity of fashion, the fashion/studio photographers because they feared a profane entry into their territory. As if photography is a matter of belonging…

I experienced virtually the same, meeting pathetic purists, pretending a street photographer should make only street photography. This is the main issue some photographers have with me. But I don’t care, I just follow my vision and I don’t think in watertight compartments.

I have seen all over these years how street photography can help my vision when I am photographing girls. And I can see how street photography can be an influence in the approach and aesthetics when I make potait photography. 

Eolo Perfido, to make an example, is a great portrait photographer and a street photographer too. My total respect for his work, and someone said me he appreciated mine.

When I say I am interested to people, I don’t lie. And it doesn’t want to be an opportunistic attitude. For the same reason I love and appreciate those photographers showing respect, empathy and real interest for their subjects, and it dosn’t matter if we talk about portrait or street photography. It is still not clear that I do not care about genre divisions?

 

I choose this photo for this article:

This week it’s all a bubbling about what is and what is not street photography. An argument as funny as it is waiting for a row at the post office.

Fundamentalisms are always wrong. For example, there are those who can not stand someone to do anything other than what they call street. I know: it is a ridiculous attitude, but it is widespread. Yesterday I photogaphed a book page:

I think Araki, still a reference to me, is the classic example of great master not celebrated by certain photographers with the blinders. A portrait photographer whom I respect, Alessandro Burato, written:

‘The ultimate discriminant is sincerity. In expressing oneself, in talking about oneself, in making me see something of yours through your photos, not adapting yourself to expressive figures or cliches that do not concern you.’

I agree. 

Imagine how those who come to tell you that there are rules to be respected can appear to my eyes. I consider that photography is a personal fact that we give to others. When I see the repetition of old formulas I get bored. I am not talking about a single photo, anyone of us can make cliches. But when I see a photographer, I want to see what is his vision, overall.

When I started doing nude photography, I always took care that the photograph was not cheap. I mean…I photographed also legs apart and open vaginas, this is not the point. The explicit is not always vulgar. In my interest as a photographer and in that of the person portrayed I worry that the image is always of a certain level, and this always passes to the attention in the composition, the grasped atmosphere, the emotion and the suggestions that image evoke. I find some photos of models pretty vulgar and they are not even exhiìbiting nudes. I think it depends how the photographer look at, his background. I could die if I took truckers’ calendar photos (with all the respect for truckers and I know is a cliche).

Araki is a street photographer. Much better than many of us. Sure, he photographed also cats and…pussies. 

Seriously, guys, I think time has arrived to put anything in the right plan. I think is not a casuality the upcoming documentary on Garry Winogrand.

He sincerely comes to do justice.

Araki is the most celebrated visual abuser.

Meanwhile Henri never missed a shot. 

 

 

 

 

I’m bored with the usual debates on the internet. 

Yesterday we read again an article which ends with the corny question “what is street photography”. Really? Do you think we are deficient? Or maybe you, writing those posts. I think that labels are good for the poor of mind, and photography should be something in which we can see the personality of the author. Today we see people responding to other people with images that all look like. 

I focus my attention on the ones showing to talk with their inner voice. I think there are. A lot. But not so celebrated. I recently posted some names not so shared on the internet. I think I will epeat this with other names. 

I can see how my work is going to be recognized. Recently some clients came to me also asking me for old works. This is the good thing. This is what a photogapher should aim: to have old work still  effective. Stuff made 10 yeas ago or 5 years, o 4, but good. This morning I have seen  a very bad picture on facebook. It shows the the umpteenth, stupid visual joke. I can’t anymore. It is pure crap. A pile of crap, sold as street photography. Giving reason to those who say that the genre is boring: with those ambassadors…

Guys, you know me, I say and I write what I think. The most of the photo blogs on the internet are fo dummies. Then there is some happy oasis, but is rare. We need to aim to a more ambitious language. 

I DON’T BELIEVE SO. AND THIS IS JUST A PROVOCATION. MAYBE NOT.

We read the entry fees of some awards/contests/grants:

LensCulture – $60
Int. Photography Award – $35
Foam Talent Call – $40
PX3 – $50
Moscow Foto Awards – $30
Life Framer – $40
KL Int. Photo Awards – $75
BJoP Breakthrough – $38
Gomma Grant – $28
Monochrome Awards – $25
PDN Photo Annual – $55
POY international – $50

Now, let me clarify: I am not against contests or people participating to contests. I have one active on this website, but my award is 5 Euro entry fee and it gives you a magazine issue by your choice of the same value. Let me also say that GOMMA GRANT  looks cool, but I wouldn’t use the word GRANT when you ask a fee. GRANTS should be to pay winners by supporting their activity or projects, and NOT ASKING THEM MONEY.

Lensculture, well, still we need to talk about the business model of…Lensculture?

Can you figure out a photographer paying for all these participations? Well, I know people doing. Are they rich? Are they wannabes? Desperates? I don’t know…

I just think…do you like this business model? Is is ethical for you? What about real talented photographers who would like to participate but can not afford it? Let’s start a serene discussion, because these organizations are making money thanks to the work of photographers, amateurs, wannabes, professionals it doesn’t matter. They win. The house always wins and in any case. Do you like to see photography sold as a casino?

Then I have to say a thing: that Monochrome Award is a joke. They contacted me 2 years ago: I accepted to be juror for them. I never made my work, because they never contacted me to ask about the photos to curate. And is possible they are not the only ones to make this.

Keep in mind that any of them are controlled by organizations, sometimes magazines, and they count with several sponsors. And they are asking all that money. They are smart, because they are making their business into photography but they show not to have in great consideration photography and photographers.

I hope someone of them can reply to this post. They need to explain us why they don’t propose a low fee. We don’t ask to stop their award or contest, we ask to make accessible to all budgets their awards.

SPECIAL NOTE FOR LENSCULTURE: No, please, scammers, don’t reply with the story of the free fee. We know pewrfectly that is a trap and then you bomb our inbox with emails asking money to have a realchance to win.

AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF MY PORTRAITS GALLERIES I RECEIVED SEVERAL PROPOSALS. SOME OF THEM PRETTY INTERESTING THAT I AM EVALUATING. OTHERS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACCEPT. I WANT TO SHARE A STORY GOING ON ON THESE DAYS, BECAUSE IT CAN BE A REFLECTION FOR EVERYONE.

In short: an art gallery based in London contacted me to have work exhibited but they ask me money to do it. No way I will do this. I never paid for my exhibs, all the ones I participated are by invitation and my policy doesn’t change on this. I know there are photographers paying for their exhibitions, but I am not like them.

 

WHEN IT COMES TO PHOTOGRAPHY, THE USUAL NAMES COME OUT. HERE I WANT TO RECOMMEND YOU SOME PHOTOGRAPHERS. MAYBE YOU KNOW ONE OR TWO, MAYBE YOU KNOW ‘EM ALL. THIS IS MY LIST, TODAY, MAYBE IN FUTURE I COULD PROPOSE OTHER POSTS LIKE THIS.

NACHO LOPEZ

He is in my opinion the Henri Cartier-Bresson of Mexico. There is not so much on the web, you need to buy a book to discover his work.

LORENZO ARMENDARIZ

I rarely met a photographer so skilled at presenting the metaphysician and the spiritual  inside the photos as Lorenzo does. The symbolism of his images does not delight in false rhetoric, but digs into the intimate of the human being. For me is a continuous reference point.

ANUAR PATJANE FLORIUK

Poetry is the specialization of this photographer. He does it in the deep of the oceans. If I knew how to swim I would probably do this.

ANTONIO REYNOSO

A photographer is above all a man capable of translating his contact and dialogue with the land through images. I have seen also nude photography of him that today would be blocked. He is a great photographer, but as for Nacho, you need to make a little bit of research to find something.

BERNARD PLOSSU

I admit my ignorance. I discovered thanks to a friend this photographer. And I am totally fallen in love with his work. His work realized in Mexico shocked me because I found many common points with my research. And then his portraits, how he “painted” the sensuality of the woman, keeping the fascination for the irradiating mystery…I have a new favourite photographer from a few days. I need to know more about him.

GABRIELE LOPEZ

He is a friend. He hosted me with my wife in his house in Milan. He is also the nice guy who gave me the Nikon L35 AF. To know really Gabriele the photographer you should see his archive on its compute. I did have the privilege to check a part where I have seen stunning work realized in Venice. About the poetry of the image, well, Gabriele is one of the number ones.

ANTONIO TUROK

My idea of photoreporter. I don’t think I need to say more than this.

 

A few decades ago the streets of Zaachila were flooded with water, for this reason, to cross from one side to another, the inhabitants of then invented the use of stilts. Thus the use of these extensions of the legs arose and to seem people of more height, of there arises the name of this group of dancers, that would mean to the Spanish something like “People of the heights”.

Zaancudos Buin Zaa are a dance group representative of the Zaachila folklore of the state of Oaxaca. Characterized by the use of stilts, constituted by men who represent the man and the woman executing their dance with the ability to stay on the stilts.

The Dance of the Zancudos has its history in relation to San Pedro, that also is a name of one of the neighborhoods of Zaachila.

A long time ago, San Pedro in an apparition asked to build a church with his name in the town of Zaachila. When his project was not realized, San Pedro continued appearing, until one day he was captured by the inhabitants of that time and was locked in a small temple because of the distrust of his words. To guard this divine character, he was guarded by topiles or guards, but great was the surprise of his own and strangers, because when the authority of that time arrived to open the doors, this man had disappeared, it is said that in the afternoon he saw San Pedro talking to an old man who had previously appeared to him.

This saint told him that he was a messenger of God to protect Zaachila. San Pedro affirmed that a week was missing for his birthday and he asked for couples to form on stilts and dance. Eight days later the dancers with stilts made with stakes of old carts, accompanied by a tamborero and women with candles and incense of copal, arrived at the feet of the hill where a week before appeared San Pedro, to please the desires of this one. There they found his image, which was taken to where the neighborhood is today. Therefore, the boys who join Zancudos groups make promises to this deity.

Zancudos Buin Zaa Facebook Official Page

 

 

THIS IS JUST THE FLOW OF PEOPLE ON MONDAY

It is just monday, many are in the Guelaguetza auditorium, but people is filling the streets too.