"Stare meglio" . A theatre show for the campaign.

It is a steep learning curve. Everyday a new challenge. This evening it was a theatre show organized in support of the election. For a start I do not know much technique for taking pics at theatre shows.. and I do not know the “etiquette” of picture taking in theatres (suggestions anyone?).

I also do not know where to take pics from, where to position myself, which are the key shots that I should not miss. And of course, in the attempt to take the right shots I tent to focus a lot on the conventional, safe ones, and I am a bit afraid of experimenting further.

Anyway… I fiddled a lot with my camera: should I just use the highest ISO setting or take a chance with lower settings? I walked around the theatre trying some shots before the performance, to get a sense of position and light. I went to the backstage, but the show was a monologue + a short introductory speeches, so really not much to see (but it is fun to see how “being the photographer” gives access everywhere). I then managed to move around the theatre during the show without making much fuss, but many times I wished I was somewhere else. Of course, being it an electoral show, I also tried to capture pictures with evidence of audience, leaflets and the like, a bit challenging as there were not many around (and a candidate with leaflets only and not big posters means less photo opportunities!!). And, good news, it was an evening worth attending as the show was really good.

Electoral posters

This is just to illustrate the point made yesterday about electoral posters... They pile up, one on top of the other. As I was walking around Roma I had a chat with someone busy to cover up electoral boards at the speed of light. Apparently he was using a new technique. Oh, it definitely works! Speed is indeed important: as soon as a poster from a "party A" is put over of a poster of "party B" (adversary), the electoral taks force of party B is informed and readdress the problem by placing a new poster over the whole lot. As you can see he was doing exacly this.


I also worked on Roberto's campaign. This morning he visited a playground, in the afternoon he worked with a group of friends to a short promotional video. I took pics of the filming, in the area around Castel Sant'Angelo. The video will consist of different people, doing different things, suddently stopping to say his name. I do not think that the video will win "best video 2008 price, but it was a fun photo opportunity... I must add that I am proud of myself, as I shoot the whole afternoon with the 24mm and the 50mm, no autofocus: for the first time I managed not to use a zoom.

Photo essay 1 started

Today I started my photo essay! I have been ready to go for a few days, but the chosen candidate (Roberto Tavani) had a big flu and was stuck in bed! Poor Roberto, election stress is not doing good to him. Anyway... at last I met him in his office today.

I got to know his planned engagements (visiting local kindergartens, going around and see people in the streets, organizing aperitifs, filming a video ad, taking part of public events with other candidates of the Democratic Party, organizing a theatre event...).. So I can have fun taking all sort of pictures. He seems to be really happy about having a photographer following him and today I could spend some time taking pics of his work in the office (basically loads of phone calls + sending promotional material to supporters).

He runs for the Democratic Party in Municipio XVII, which is the part of Roma where I live. Roma has a city administration but is further divided in Municipi (we have plenty of levels of government in Italy!). I chose to follow a candidate for a Municipio - and not for the whole town - because this is a more interesting scale, which will make me focus on local events and smaller groups of people.

The only missing bit of campaign gizmo will be electoral posters, he had only printed small recyclable leaflets because he believes that as a former environment and culture “assessore” (local councillor) he cannot really contribute to the mess the electoral posters are making in Roma.

Of course I will also take a few pics of that electoral poster mess as a side exercise...

PS.. I realised that I chose two pics where Roberto is out of focus... but I can ensure you that I have plenty where he is well focused... You will get to see him more closely in the next episodes of the election saga!

Brick factory

I visited an artist friend who is now living in a brick factory. Quite an incredible place, still close to the town but surrounded by fields and caves of clay. Her loft is hidden amongst warehouses used by artist to stock their work, most of which is done with clay and bricks. Strange stuff indeed… There was an incredible warm and bright light, filtering from large, long windows... but I did not make much of it. The most interesting subiects ended always up to be the ones in the shade.

Nikkor 24mm F2.8 AF

Got myself a new lens, nikkor 28 f 2.8. For the first time in my life I own a fixed focal. Gosh… this course is playing tricks on me!!! I tried the new lens on my mum (left) and aunt, on Easter day. They are thinking hard, adding up scores after a game of scrabble. Good news is that I won. I was the proud composer of long words like “amnesia”…

"Documentary photography" in Fascist Italy

Interesting afternoon, taking zillions of pictures of a camera-shy-friend who needed a portrait for his editor but could not stop making funny, wrinkly faces… We also discussed the object of its most recent study: the history of an infamous journal published in Fascist Italy, “La difesa della razza” (The defence of the race). We looked the use of “documentary pictures” in it.

He showed me pictures of Jews at (forced) work which were used as proof in articles discussing how Jews would only work if forced. In another issue the picture of a line of black factory workers at a medical visit was misquoted as the picture of a line of an army visit in France. The point of the article was to demonstrate that the (enemy) French army was corrupted by the presence of so many blacks. It was then pointed out to the editor that the picture did not represented soldiers but factory workers. The answer, published in a successive issue, was that this was irrelevant: as the picture could indeed illustrate a true fact, its use was perfectly acceptable. This journal makes a very depressing reading after a while, but it made me willing to learn a little bit more about the use of photography in the two decades of Fascism in Italy.

Ex 4d: group potrait, librarians at the Faculty of Architecture, Torino

I finally found (better late than never?) a suitable subject for the group pictures: some librarians of the Central Faculty of Architecture in Torino. It was interesting to observe the dynamics of a group portrait: at the beginning everyone just stayed in line, but then the initial fear dissolved and more more creative set up could be put in place (walking around shelves and using the small ladders, for example). Time, as usual, was a constraint. The librarians could only dedicate a small time to the picture which is a shame because they were great subjects

Nights in Roma

Andrea and Micol -colleagues from the Milano office - came to Roma and we managed to realize our old commitment: photo walk around Roma, at night. So for two nights in a row we walked miles and miles in the center (I am doing good exercise, considering that on Sunday I had followed a friend running the marathon with my bike for a good part of the race to take a few pics of him... but I shamefully manged to miss his arrival as I got bogged in the crowd!!!).

It was lot of fun, and it was all really about trying different exposures, set up and techniques rather than taking good pictures. Andrea also kindly lent me his 50mm, 1.8 in the attempt to convince me that fixed focal are much better than zooms. I am not sure I will ever be persuaded to give up the easy of use, when travelling, of my 18-200mm.. but I confess that such a luminous lens was a joy. Also, having a real fixed lens (and not a zoom which I had blocked as I did in my assignments!!) made me feel more at easy in accepting the “limitation” of a fixed focal length. So, great learning, to be repeated.

Plane delays

Plane delays can turn out to be nice when I travel with a bag full of books… no distractions (airport shops definitely are not my thing), a cup of something on my table, plenty of leg space, plenty of time to read. In Cardiff Airport I looked at few photography books (including “the Bosnians”) and read a “children book” which is really a beautiful work of art for all ages. It is called “The arrival”, by Shaum Tan and is the story of a migrant settling in an unknown land. The same quality seemed to link the images (of realty and fantasy) that I liked more: an attempt to capture that special thing behind the images that makes them profoundly human.

Ex 4c: Portrait of Val, Oxfam shop in Penarth

Val has been a volunteer in the Oxfam shop in Penarth (a beautiful little town near Cardiff) for more than 5 years. She was the answer to my call for help to my friend Heather: “I will came and visit but I also need to work on my portrait assignment…Any suggestion?”. At the beginning Val was not entirely persuaded she could be good portrait material, and I was clearly not giving the impression of being that special photographer capable to transform any creature in a beautiful portrait. Anyway, we had plenty of time to relax, cool down and chat about the shop and her volunteering. All her colleagues worked hard to ensure the needed bit of Oxfam visibility in the picture: money tin, badge, pins… so set was buzzing… Being myself an NGO person also helped to bond (ActionAid was seen as a competitor, but of the good sort after all).

Two things really helped Val to relax and pose a bit. One was cheeky joke of a man volunteer, according to which Val was ready to feature on “page three” of the Oxfam magazine. The other one was my confession that I was desperately trying find that “magic spot, magic angle” (as mentioned in our on line class) that makes a great picture.

I had to work in the space near the till where Val was serving, and I tried to use the big poster at her back as part of the composition. Sometimes it worked: I felt that Val rightly belonged to a picture of happy boys” as she spent so much time in their support. Sometimes, however, it was all too cluttered. I was not great with light, ideally I should have had some more light on her face to make it stand out.. mmm… definitely lighting is an area for improvement. But all in all lot of learning and fun also in this portrait session.

Meeting up in London

Can you guess where this pic was taken? (Paul, do not mark us on this!). And in case you wonder, from left to right are Silva, Mark, Anna, Rhian.

I must make a point to visit fellow students when in London (or wherever we happen to be together!)… I really enjoyed chatting with Lizzie at her place… and then meeting Anna, Mark and Rhian at LCC +pub. There is so much to talk about and time went so fast. I could not believe it was already 11 when I looked at the watch after only a few glasses of cider and chips! Not sure that the pub-on-line-session on Monday evening can ever have the same appeal than the real stuff (and it does not help that for one reason or another I always end up missing it…).

I feel that having a real group project (and possibly not only a large group project, but also smaller warm up exercises!) will really help to get in touch. So far I have been sooooo impressed with the people I met and I am really happy to be part of such a great group! And I can see a new generation of student already apprearing… Lizzie’s daughter is simply great at taking pics!

London is photo paradise...

London is another world when it comes to photography. Galleries and exhibitions, wonderful bookshops with tantalising choice…

[Bad luck. I was given a room at the Tavistock hotel from which I could access the wireless without going to the lobby… and today the laptop broke!! So all my hope to follow evening classes, do my homework and tutorials from the comfort of my room miserably failed… and, of course, broken laptop and slow replacement will mean BIG backlog of work…]

Ex 4b: Portrait of Nando at the Tate

I admit that asking a good friend to be the model for the second portrait session was a bit like cheating. But I had realised, in my first attempt, the importance to have the time to explore a face. Time, instead, is a bit of a luxury when portraying an unknown, busy person. And I feel incredibly clumsy and nervous when I pretend I am a photographer and ask people for their time… So it was good fun and a good laugh to take these pictures of Nando at the Tate. We probably looked quite credible in our endeavour: as we came back into the cafeteria from the terrace, several people said hello, just in case Nando was some sort of artist.

Having to think of portrait in a separate exercise from “activity” and “relationship” was very useful to make me understand what is in a portrait.

Looking back at the cook in Mombasa… I did not take many pics of the cook stirring in the pot because I had that feeling that these pictures said more about the verb, “to cook” and took focus away from the subject, the cook/chef. What I needed was less action and more context.

I also started to realize the difference between “taking a portrait of a person which is already set up to capture my attention” (e.g. in a particular moment, in a particular light) -which is the kind of portraiture that I had mostly done when travelling -…. and, instead, “taking a person as a starting point”, and act so that s/he can be put in a suitable context, in that good light, in that particular posture which captures and highlight something important about that person. So, not only I need to train myself to spot and capture these portraits which are already there, ready, in my face… but I must learn how to create that special context, to find that particular angle that makes the difference between a passport picture and a portrait.

London: with Rhian

No pics today... but a very nice afternoon. It was nice to discover that at least one of the people in the Wimba Classroom is a real and not virtual creature! I met with Rhian at the National Portrait Gallery (the Vanity Fair exibition was sold out, but the small Shutting Up Shop was really touching), we saw more pics at the Photographers' Gallery... we went to browse photography books in the shops in Central London.. And we had a fair share of hot drinks and chatting!

Ex 4a: portrait of the chef of Serena Hotel, Mombasa

The only exception to my commitment not to exploit locals for pictures was the hotel chef. Since the food was so good, I really felt I should go and praise him and, of course, try to convince him to be portrayed. I went across the kitchen, full of activity, and found him in his office.

I had expected he would be trafficking with pots and pans and instead he was busy looking at the internet to study trends and ideas in the tourist and food industry. Once I reassured him that my pictures were only a school assignment – and therefore I would not have to seek permission for the chain management - he agreed to be portrayed, and we set a time for the session. We had a good chat before, but the session was not long. I felt that he was happy to chat but had little time to spare with photos…

A few shots were taken in the office, while he was working, and then he agreed to go around the kitchen for a while. We took a couple of shots in front of a big pot, but they did not really work (he looked too much as a normal kitchen worker rather than the kitchen manager that I had known in the chat). I think that the shots that work best are those taken with him peeping from behind a pile of under red lights: an interesting feature of the kitchen that I luckily had spotted on my way in.

Mombasa

One week on a tourist paradise, but I did not see much of it. I spent most of the time in the conference room or in my hotel room in front of the laptop (but with a view of the sea).

I managed to take time for myself and to walk long the beach from 6 to 8… in the morning :-(

Even at that early time the beach was full of vendors, and of people willing to show crabs, octopus and little sea creatures to the few tourist in the hotels of the coast. Few indeed, as the Kenya troubles discouraged many to take their holidays on this beautiful coastline…which is the reason why we ended up there, in an upmarket hotel: desperate for business, hotels lowered the prices.

I could not avoid feeling guilty to talk about poverty in a luxury hotel, but on the positive side I was happy to know that lot of the friendly staff had been hired back because we showed in.

The troubled times seems to be gone now… hopefully these vendors will have plenty of clients again soon.

I had hoped to find “portrait material” for the assignment… but I was not very successful. I decided not to take portraits of the vendors on the beach, or hotel staff. I felt uncomfortable about being the “white tourist in a multistar hotel”, buying the time and the attention of the kind people along the beach for a few cents. It is not the kind of relationship I want to have when taking pictures of people.

I took tons of pictures of my colleagues during the workshop, which do not count as coursework… but I was happy to feel that even when taking these routine pictures I found myself thinking more, or waiting more for the right expression. I was pleased by the comment of a colleague, who observed me taking pics and said that I seem to take pics of interesting moments. I also experimented a lot with powerpoint and window media to put together the material for the conference in a novelty format. I had to present the result of an evaluation, and I manage to obtain video clips of the consultants engaging with them… multimedia work was a resounding success.