Paolo
There is so much going on these days. It's hard to keep up with the blog. I'll start with the most recent event. Tonight I met photographer Paolo Pellizzari (www.pellizzari.net) in Brussels at PechaKucha. PK is a happening organised by a friend of mine, Alok Nandi (pechakucha.architempo.net/brussels). It's essentially about bringing all kinds of interesting people together in an informal networking environment. I knew Paolo from his book "1 milliard d'Indiens", published a few years ago (5 Continents; still available). So, I took my copy with me to the event and had it signed by him. I gave him a copy of my Capitals book in return.
Paolo has interesting background. He was born in Italy in 1957 and trained as an architect/engineer in Belgium. He pursued a successful career in several businesses. Only in 1999 he launched himself as an independent photographer. (In fact, he looks more like an executive than as a street photographer).
I was attracted to his work as he is one of the very few photographers who seem to be able to build a career on the panoramic format. He uses a swing-lens panoramic camera (a Widelux, Noblex, or Horizon) for most of his work, exclusively in colour. His style is exuberant and very dynamic, exploiting the idiosyncracies of these cameras to the limit: perspectival distortions, blurs and slurs abound. He has an uncanny eye for the quirky detail. But despite the virtuosity and the infatuation with the decisive moment, his work remains incredibly visceral, spontaneous and true. Judging by the uninterrupted stream of books, projects and exhibitions he must have an enormous appetite for work.
Tonight, he gave a short talk on his work (in fact, it took exactly 6'40"), illustrated by a mix of 20 images. Whilst he spoke, I jotted down the following one liners: "Photography is like a state of mind ... When I take pictures, I bounce back and forward because I try to go beyond what I think can be done ... Everything can go wrong in a picture, but sometimes everything falls just in place ... One keeps trying ... Hundreds of pictures never make it ... Photography is bouncing ... I fail many many times ... There is no reason why a picture should be bound by the unity of time and light ... I find it terribly hard to transfer feelings of people in a picture to a picture ..."
Paolo has interesting background. He was born in Italy in 1957 and trained as an architect/engineer in Belgium. He pursued a successful career in several businesses. Only in 1999 he launched himself as an independent photographer. (In fact, he looks more like an executive than as a street photographer).
I was attracted to his work as he is one of the very few photographers who seem to be able to build a career on the panoramic format. He uses a swing-lens panoramic camera (a Widelux, Noblex, or Horizon) for most of his work, exclusively in colour. His style is exuberant and very dynamic, exploiting the idiosyncracies of these cameras to the limit: perspectival distortions, blurs and slurs abound. He has an uncanny eye for the quirky detail. But despite the virtuosity and the infatuation with the decisive moment, his work remains incredibly visceral, spontaneous and true. Judging by the uninterrupted stream of books, projects and exhibitions he must have an enormous appetite for work.
Tonight, he gave a short talk on his work (in fact, it took exactly 6'40"), illustrated by a mix of 20 images. Whilst he spoke, I jotted down the following one liners: "Photography is like a state of mind ... When I take pictures, I bounce back and forward because I try to go beyond what I think can be done ... Everything can go wrong in a picture, but sometimes everything falls just in place ... One keeps trying ... Hundreds of pictures never make it ... Photography is bouncing ... I fail many many times ... There is no reason why a picture should be bound by the unity of time and light ... I find it terribly hard to transfer feelings of people in a picture to a picture ..."
posted by Philippe at
2:39 AM
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