Antonio Curcetti: Shooting Bands with the Lomo'Instant Wide

Antonio Curcetti is a true analogue champion, he shoots exclusively using film and crates an aesthetic to inspire most film photographers. We gave him a Lomo'Instant Wide to shoot with and asked him about his work.

Hi Antonio, tell us a bit about yourself?

Hi, I am a photographer/visual artist based in London and work mainly with analogue cameras and video cameras, but not exclusively. I work in the music industry and specifically in the psych rock/experimental scene. For many years, before becoming a visual artist, I have been a musician myself and played with a band called Querelle. The band split up in 2005 after releasing their first album for the record label Sink and Stove, and it was when my friend and band mate Gypsy formed Popular Workshop that I decided to buy a camera and start taking picture. My first camera was a digital one, a Pentax K10, with which I started to practise and understand the basic fundamentals of photography. I went with the Popular Workshop to Chicago where the guys were recording their first album with Steve Albini, ( Pixies, The Breeders, Nirvana, Mogway…etc) and with them documented the recordings on a Blog. Then back to London I did a course on Studio lightning at the London College of Communication, but it was when a friend of mine came home one night with a Polaroid Land Camera 180 that I fell in love with the beauty of analogue photography and in particular of instant photography. I have never used a digital camera since. At the moment, after that Fuji as made the famous FP100C and FP3000B discontinued, I use an Holga camera, a Pentagon Six TL, sometimes a Polaroid SX70 or a Mamiya RZ 67pro.

What is the appeal with film and why do you choose it for your photos?

It’s the whole process that interests me, the fact that I have to think to details that are probably a bit OCD and ritualistic but really fulfil my creativity. Also with cheap options I can have extremely good results, thing that I can’t say the same for digital cameras. Like for example push to the limit the characteristics of a film or use film in a very artistic way, we all know how good is the grain on a film and how bad is on digital for example.

Tell us a bit about these photos?

So, you have some colour pictures taken with Lomography 800 film and my Holga camera, for the Press release of the new The Oscillation album U.E.F, released for Fuzz Club. They were taken at the Mirth, Marvel and Maud a beautiful old Cinema in Wathamstow, cinema that has been saved by the council from being transformed into a church. For this album I have also produced a 22:22 minute video for the Side A of the album. Then you have some black and white stills taken with my Holga camera with Lomo 400 film. The band is UUUU, super band made by members of Wire, Coil/Spiritualzed and Tomaga. Some of these shots have been used as cover art and some for press release.

The instant photos have been taken with the Lomo'Instant Wide during the Rocket Recordings 20th birthday at The Garage in London. The night was organised by Baba Yaga’s Hut. You can see Anthony Chalmers in one of those shots, who run the company together with other really incredible people. They put up shows in London from Krautrock, 60’s psych and crime-jazz to baile-funk, progressive rock, 60’s girl groups, blaxploitation soundtracks, no-wave disco, ghetto-tech and free noise. At the end of May they will run Raw Power festival in their 5th edition and maybe I will have the pleasure to run my visuals on one of the 3 nights.

How did you get on shooting with the Lomo'Instant Wide?

I really loved to shoot on B mode and double exposure and being used to take photos with the Holga camera I didn’t find the focusing system a problem at all, but I think in the situation I was, live music, it was a weak point. Apart from that it was fun and I have noticed loads of people interested on what it was.

What's coming up in 2018 for you?

As I have said before some live visual shows with Tomaga and The Oscillation, a couple of music videos and a cover art for a new UUUU’ Ep, and of course a lot of music.

for more of Antionio's work visit his website antoniocurcettianalogico.com

2018-05-11 #people #london #uk #lomo-instant-wide #antonio-curcetti