I’ve always been passionate about visual arts, whether it’s photography, painting, plastic arts, anything that evokes emotion through the visual sense. Naturally, I wanted to become an artist, and I began painting. The emotional impact is what drew me to arts but what eventually drew me to photography was my interest in people. Compared to painting, which was to me a solitary practice, the mood I was looking for in my photography brought me closer to the human experience.
What inspires me to create is the need to be creating, I can't stop thinking about more pictures and more things to do. That's what's preventing me from stopping. I force myself to take some free time to myself, but I can't. I always have my notebook with me or I'm always typing ideas into my phone, most of the time they're all useless.
I guess that the approach to the creative process is in the connection with the outside world and relationships with people. Basically, the way emotions affect me.
It might be a cliché, but what really drives me is the depressed beauty. Beauty feels divine, mistakes are deeply human, I like the tension between the two, I think that's where true beauty is.
I mainly photograph people. I struggle to shoot anything else because I need to feel a connection with my subject—even if it’s not a positive one, at least it gives me some emotion. What captivates me is that duality: the contrast between immaculate beauty and human trauma.
My creative process is pretty common. I do my research —visiting exhibitions, attending shows, reading, listening to music, and discovering new artists online. From there, I essentially start gathering ideas to create a mood board.
I usually prefer shooting at night or during the blue hour. There’s something special about the atmosphere after sunset that really amazes me. Since I mostly shoot film, I have to choose my film rolls carefully. With film becoming more expensive, I shoot less rolls, which means I need to plan better. There is always one rule that resonates in my mind when I'm planning: "Location is everything".
I usually shoot with Kodak Portra 800 or 400 if I can't find 800. The most tricky part is measuring the light because my lightmeter is really old, but I like it too much to replace it. And then, when I'm shooting, I usually have in mind 4 to 5 different shots that I want to secure and let the rest go with the flow.
What keeps me going is that urge to create—I create for the pleasure of creating but, of course, and working with film photography, that's become very unsustainable moneywise. Because of that I've been shooting much less, which also gives me more time to focus on my 3D work.
Being creatively stuck is just part of the process. When that happens, I reach out to others for feedback, take breaks, and let myself reset. The creativity always comes back, but that doesn’t mean I just sit around waiting. As Picasso said, “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working” you lazy idiot. The last part is mine.
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