Meeting Lorenzo
Tonight I will travel to Rome to meet Lorenzo Castore, whom I met last year at the TPW photo workshop in Sant'Anna in Camprena. Although stylistically he has a very different approach (and although he is quite a few years younger than myself), I consider him to be a true mentor in photographic matters (and beyond). He embodies a tough, Nietzschean kind of wisdom that strikes a deep chord in me. I regularly reread his epilogue to his book "Paradiso" which, with its uncompromising force and thruthfulness, always leaves me impressed and inspired.
I dug up my notebook from the course last year and it is sprinkled with delightful quotes from Lorenzo. Here are some:
"Every moment has its moment. Moving should not become an obsession. Otherwise it becomes a style. We get stuck."
"Blurry pictures work but you should be very very aware that being straight and simple is often much harder and it communicates better. You should always ask yourself why you are doing this."
"Often nothing is better than something in a picture."
"If we have one thing to say, we are really lucky."
"If we take pictures, we don't know why. But when we look at the contact sheets, then starts a series of 'why's?'"
"If you are satisfied with what you do, then there is no point in me coming to you and saying 'you have to run naked in the woods' or some such thing."
"Stomach is the most important part of the body. Not the mind, because it is too conceptual. Not the heart, because it is too sentimental. We don't want to be cheesy, we don't want to be too conceptual. So there is only the stomach. There is no other way to rollercoaster."
"Rock-and-roll street photography: it is a matter of being there, in the situation, paying attention to all there is."
"Producing things that look pretty is a way to protect yourself. It is very safe."
"I'm against something that looks nice. It hasn't to be bad. But it has to be the minimal thing for what you want to say."
"Anything that is decorative is not necessary."
"There is big difference between something decorative and something metaphorical (with extra meaning and energy)."
"Energy is generated by two poles that fight with one another."
"You should not only pay attention to moments with strong emotions. Sometimes it is also nice to take a picture in the quiet moments. Then there is the opportunity for real concentration."
"I'd like to think when I walk around that there is a piece of me in everything."
"The discipline for this week is the discipline to do what you really like to do ... It's a duty for life, not only for this week."
I dug up my notebook from the course last year and it is sprinkled with delightful quotes from Lorenzo. Here are some:
"Every moment has its moment. Moving should not become an obsession. Otherwise it becomes a style. We get stuck."
"Blurry pictures work but you should be very very aware that being straight and simple is often much harder and it communicates better. You should always ask yourself why you are doing this."
"Often nothing is better than something in a picture."
"If we have one thing to say, we are really lucky."
"If we take pictures, we don't know why. But when we look at the contact sheets, then starts a series of 'why's?'"
"If you are satisfied with what you do, then there is no point in me coming to you and saying 'you have to run naked in the woods' or some such thing."
"Stomach is the most important part of the body. Not the mind, because it is too conceptual. Not the heart, because it is too sentimental. We don't want to be cheesy, we don't want to be too conceptual. So there is only the stomach. There is no other way to rollercoaster."
"Rock-and-roll street photography: it is a matter of being there, in the situation, paying attention to all there is."
"Producing things that look pretty is a way to protect yourself. It is very safe."
"I'm against something that looks nice. It hasn't to be bad. But it has to be the minimal thing for what you want to say."
"Anything that is decorative is not necessary."
"There is big difference between something decorative and something metaphorical (with extra meaning and energy)."
"Energy is generated by two poles that fight with one another."
"You should not only pay attention to moments with strong emotions. Sometimes it is also nice to take a picture in the quiet moments. Then there is the opportunity for real concentration."
"I'd like to think when I walk around that there is a piece of me in everything."
"The discipline for this week is the discipline to do what you really like to do ... It's a duty for life, not only for this week."
posted by Philippe at
11:20 AM
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