Day 2 of SnappedAway In-Depth Series with Maro Barbieri. We talk about how he got into photography, his inspirations, his masters and how he finds ideas for his projects.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and your photography style to our readers?
Hi my name is Marco Barbieri, I am 34, I am half Italian and half Czech and I have been living in London for about 8 years now.
My images are about ordinary spaces, the way these influence us and the way we make use of them.
Subjects often appear lost or overwhelmed by the urban environment surrounding them, yet people are central to my work. I am driven by geometry / symmetry and I would say my approach is very compositional. The result is what I consider a static and contemplative reflection on common spaces and daily life.
How did you get interested in photography? And why did you pick photography as a medium and a form of expression. Why is it right for you?
I had cameras since I was a kid so I assume it’s something that slowly grew on me. I think I took it more seriously since I moved to London and I discovered a world of galleries and inspiring photography books that made me think about photography in a complete different way. These were the reason why I challenged myself to try and do interesting work.
I think this is the right medium for me because I like the ability of contemplating a specific moment in time. I can see potential future projects integrating some video or soundscape but at the moment, the ability of photography to tell (or suggest) a story is still my favourite feature and the reason I keep working with this medium.
How did you learn how to shoot? And what did you find the most helpful source of information along this way (classes, tutorials, reading manuals, having a mentor)?
I am self taught so for me it was just a matter of reading a couple of books about techniques and then just go out and shoot as much as possible. Apart from that I think I learned about composition by looking at the work of other people.
How about your photography style? Can you describe your journey to where you are right now?
When I took photography more seriously I was heavily influenced by the work of Ray K. Metzler and Harry Callahan who are still among my favourite photographers. This developed in a project called Lights and Lines. However, I got soon bored by the limitation of this particular style, especially due to my interest in architectural forms and spaces. So I assume that the Dusseldorf School and then the work of Nadav Kander and other fine art documentary photographers took me where I am now.
Do you remember your first most inspiring photographer/ photobook/ exhibition in your life? And how about other photography masters? How do they inspire you and how do they influence your photography style?
Again, I would say Ray K. Metzler, Harry Callahan, Alec Soth, Nadav Kander, Burtinsky, Gronsky etc…
In terms of photobook I wouldn’t be able to recollect my first one but lately I was really impressed by An Atlas of War and Tourism in the Caucasus by Rob Hornstra and Arnold Van Bruggen, a great example of intelligent documentary photography with a very contemporary approach in terms of funding (creation of website and zines to pay for the trips).
Another book I really enjoyed was Alessandro Imbriaco’s The Garden with his really dark photography that, apart for making sense due to the subject (a family living on the outskirts of society) it also makes the images stand apart.
And finally Joan Fontcuberta’s The Photography of Nature & The Nature of Photography where the photographer literally plays with the actual medium of photography.
How do you work? Are you after a specific project or a single frame? Do you come with idea first or the idea finds you when you are shooting? How do you find your project ideas?
It mostly happens that I go out shooting without any specific thing in mind and then I build a project out of an idea that I get while shooting. Once the project idea is clear I do my best to be a bit methodical about it.
Usually I work on multiple projects at a time as some more can always come up, this is actually quite nice as it allows me to enjoy doing a bit of photography without necessarily concentrating only on a specific series, I would find it reductive.
What is your favourite or memorable project/ photo you have worked on. Why? And also what are the two projects you will share with us in the following days.
I think my more memorable project (not favourite) is Lights and Lines which is one of the first “serious” series I worked on. One image of the project ended up being exhibited at the Museum of London as a friend send it to a competition without me knowing. It make me believe that I wasn’t actually that bad…
The two projects I would like to share with you in the next couple of days are: Asocial Interactions and Contextless.
What do you personally find challenging as a photographer?
Finding the time to actually do photography, think about it and somehow promote it.
Do you have your favourite lens? Why this specific one? Favourite camera?
I used to have a bunch of lens and sold everything for a really high quality 50 mm f1.2 by Canon. This has been my only lens for the last 3 or 4 years and I am completely happy with my decision.
I like to shoot what I see so the pleasure comes from adapting to the world rather than adapting the world to yourself (this is quite an obvious thing to say but it’s true).
In addition, I don’t like distortion so anything more wide angle would not work for me. Finally, it’s the perfect solution for travel as you don’t look like some crazy gadget covered photographer you see around, looking at life through his lenses (all the time).
What is one piece of advice you would like to offer a person starting as a photographer.
Read a lot for inspiration and shoot as much as you can.
If you enjoyed reading this post check the previous blog entry with my introduction to Marco’s work and also stay with us for more of his photography.
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