Interview: Photographer Francesca Amanteri (Italy)
How and when did you get into photography?
Before being a photographer I've been a model for many years. I came in contact with many international photographers and this allowed me to discover different photography cultures.
What does photography mean to you?
Taken for granted that photography is pure exhibitionism, before being a photographer, photography was also a tool to communicate what I had inside, to pull it out.
When you are young you feel more jittery, disquiet; you have more turmoil and inner disorder. You don't know how to manage your feelings so you find ways to exorcise them.
Now that I have a less restless life, photography has become pure synonymous of beauty. I love capturing beauty, that means create emotions to people who look at them.
I think that everything turns around photography is a form of narcissism. More the photographs is beautiful and touching more I (the photographer) becomes seductive at the eyes of the viewer.
I'm an exhibitionist photographer, then :)
Please briefly describe your photography style for our readers.
One thing that a dear friend and photographer often tells me is: "Francesca, find a style, you do not have a style!" It's true. I don't have a style. Doing always the same things, in the same way, bores me terribly! I think that knowing and growing means changing, always and constantly.
So today I shoot in BN, tomorrow in color, then with camera shake (micromosso), in the studio, then outside and so on. I do not like collecting identical and interchangeable pictures. Also you can't be the same and have the same approach with every subject you interact with, just because every single people has awn personality and it's unfair to bend the model to you, it'a bad limit for the model and for the photographer, and this means that you are selfish and not able to see who you have in front of you.
A painter can create an artistic current painting alone in his place but a photographer interacts, so he has a different task. I mean.. you can't put flowers to aggressive models just because that’s your style. It's a non sense.
Where do you get inspiration from?
I take inspiration from everything: art, movie, everyday life. Sometimes I just shoot without taken inspiration from nothing except the subject I have in front of me. For example, I do not like create moodboard because it’s a limit to my creativity and to the unpredictability of every set.
Think you in advance what you want in the picture?
Nice question! I don't have the head of a painter or drawer, unfortunately, so I do not prefigure the images, not always. When I shoot I definitely think of what I want to do but usually in terms of mood, this means that everything born with the synergy with the model.
Studio, on location or both?
For now studio and location. Next step is outside. Let’s see what will happen!
What has been your most memorable session and why?
I don’t have a memorable session yet.
Nikon or Canon? Favorite lens?
I prefer Nikon, but I use both. For now I love 85mm
What do you think of our new magazine?
Your magazine is chameleonic and it's a quality that only few magazines have today.
In your magazine people can browse pages and have different photographic point of view and techniques and styles.
Website www.francesca-amanteri.com
