Analogue Journey: An Interview with Lorenzo Scudiero

This young artist has drawn our attention with breathtaking photographs which give colour to the life around us. He has managed to show a perfect blend of nature and its harmony with people. His portraits tell stories of young people around him and different places he visited. This summer, he has decided to go on an adventure of his lifetime and to seek inspiration in different European cities which, he believes, hide undiscovered beauties.

He enjoys capturing the life around him with analogue cameras and his photographs prove that real moments last forever. Lorenzo spoke to our magazine about what drove him to embark on an analogue journey through Europe with his friends, and what is the driving force behind his creativity.

This summer, you have decided to travel to different European cities with your friends, and capture the moments spent there with analogue cameras. What has inspired you to embark on such a journey? Why did you choose to show the memories of this journey precisely on film?

I always thought that traveling broadens your mind and helps you to find yourself. I want to see with my eyes new social environments and try to analyze them with my camera! It’s a project I have organized with my friends, we share the same love for photography and travels. I think that when you travel film photography is more comfortable because you don’t need to worry about sd cards or batteries and it is less weight. Besides during the last year I came closer and closer to that kind of photography and I found that it’s my favorite way to tell a story.

When did your story of photography begin? Was there a moment when you simply knew that it was the right kind of art for you, with which you wanted to preserve moments in time forever?

Two years ago I felt the need to give more value to my experiences and to the people around me. I wanted to explore the world and also myself through the lens of my camera and so…that was the beginning ! From that moment photography invaded my life.

You grew up in Italy where most of your photographs were made. On which locations in Italy did you have a chance to shoot? Does any special place you shot at stand out?

Most of my shootings in Italy took place in Rovereto, a small city in the north of Italy, where I was born and grown up. Recently I have moved to Milan where I shot some other pictures, but my favorite place remains Rovereto! In 30 minutes I can reach the lake of Garda or the top of a mountain! I love the landscapes that surround my town…. After all I realized that is not the place that makes the picture great, but it is the way you see that particular situation and the relationship between you and the subject.

Which themes spur creativity in you, as well as the desire to take pictures? How did you develop your unique photographic style?

Youth culture, friendship, travels and nature are my favorite themes, I particularly feel these situations and I would like to explore them better in future. I don’t know that at all: I always wanted to improve myself, try new techniques and type films. The shots that I take now are significantly different from the ones I took last summer and probably from what I will shoot in the future. So I don’t know precisely.. I just tried, tried and tried!

Your work is characterized by, among other things, a lot of portraits. Who are usually your models? How do you manage to show your ideas and all you have envisioned in photographs?

I love to photograph my friends and acquaintances. I like to know the people in front of me and have a relationship with them. I think that photography requires an emotional exchange between the photographer and the subject! I show my ideas shooting with my heart and trying to be genuine and choosing always with care people and places: If I don’t feel that is the right moment and don’t take the shot, I want to take photographs that really mean something to me!

Today, in the time when most people use digital cameras, you’ve decided to give preference to analogue photography. What has driven you to give film a shot?

For me is the perfect way to shoot, It makes me feel more comfortable on my decisions: When I shoot on film I just feel the moment, I am part of the action and I don’t think about what I shot some seconds ago. Whatever comes out I will be happy, because I know that is near to what I perceive. Besides there is a kind of magic atmosphere that you can’t recreate with digital cameras.

Besides being a photographer, you are a filmmaker, too. Which films inspire your creative process? Which is the hardest step in a film making process?

The films that have most inspired me are those films that try to analyze the human being, our feelings, our fears. I can find that kind of elements both in some recent new films (like Revenant, for instance) and even in the old 50’s/60’s films. It depends.. maybe just a scene lights up in my mind some new ideas!! Sometimes that happens also when I am listening to music…it’s kind weird. The hardest step for me is when you have actually to develop your first concept into the shooting and then accomplish it, there is always something that may change from your original plan… but often this becomes a new challenge and is an added value!

Do you believe that every artist shows a part of their own personality and character in photographs? What is it that you want to show in your photographs and the films you make?

I don’t think so.. not every artist..You can feel when someone is taking a photo just because she/he wants to create something beautiful, something to share and be proud of; and when someone is taking a photo to do something more, to express her/himself, to tell a story. This kind of people are photographers because they NEED to do that. I always look for some emotional depth in my shots, because for me the aim of photography is to catch that kind of atmosphere. There is always something about me in my shots that is merging with the subject, it is hard to describe.. Probably is due to the connection I love to create with the person I am looking at.

All photographs shown in this article were used by the permission of Lorenzo Scudiero. If you want to see more of his work, follow Lorenzo on instagram, or check out his tumblr.

written by Ivana Džamić on 2016-07-27 #people #nature #film #portrait #roadtrip #youth #analogue-photography #lorenzoscudiero