Pietrino Di Sebastiano
Do you prefer using a traditional camera or a digital one?
I have always used a 35mm Reflex - two Canon cameras with Canon FD 16 - 28 - 35 - 50 - 70/210 e 300 mm opticals - and only in the last few months I have started using the digital camera, which I found very interesting I must admit.
Which are the pros and cons of using a digital camera and/or a reflex? Which are the main differences between the two in your opinion?
What I like of the Reflex is the possibility to control everything, like focus for example. The digital camera is usually smaller, you pay nothing for developing the films and the most interesting fact is that you can see the result of your shot immediately.
Do you elaborate and retouch your photos, and if so, which programs or traditional techiniques do you use?
I believe the choice of films, focals, developments and papers are the ultimate result of the author's sensitivity. In my experience I have successfully tried different techniques. In "fotograffi" (photo scratches) I superimposed a negative film to a diapo, developed the whole and scratched the emulsion to obtain the graffiti look. In Alto Fragile (high and fragile series) I worked on the prints using brushes and sprays.
How do you feel working with pixels instead of brushes is changing traditional art?
Digital photography is opening new horizons at present, the way it allows us to see and realize images which are just the result of our imagination, with no limits eventually. I think the digital era will take more and more people closer to the photography world.
Some purists say traditional photography is the most immediate way to depict reality while digital photography with all the enhancement and retouching stuff is somehow tricky. Do you agree with this statement?
We have always had images, including important historical ones, which we discovered were the result of trick and manipulation of reality. It is never the means which makes fakes but he who uses them to cheat on others.
Do you always look for a certain effect and atmosphere or may they just be the result of a casual process?
Nothing is completely casual in photography. You always search for the valuable subject, the most interesting perspective and everything, and if many photographers depict the same event you will have many many different interpretations of it. Well, you could always find yourself in the right moment and right place to shot something unique but then a good photographer should be always ready to catch the unforeseen.
When was the first time you were really satisfied with the result of your work? I mean, is there any of your photos you consider the best you ever made?
I could say the photos which were published on important photography reviews or those which won prizes but I think I have always felt completely satisfied every single time I managed to get exactly the image I wanted to make.
Do you have a favorite subject (humans, nature, abstract)?
I have no particular preference as for subjects. What interests me is the idea to try on every genre with the only help of my personality and sensitivity, being original and absolutely non trivial.
What is your attitude towards Black and White photography? I see you seem to like it much, don't you?
Black and white is what I really prefer. I do consider myself a B/W photographer and I develop negatives and prints on my own. At the end of the Seventies I used a compact camera my father brought me from Australia and I remember I traded my gold bracelet - my first Communion gift - for an enlarger I then used for developing my first photos.
Are there photographers and other artists inspiring you? "Alto Fragile" reminds me so much of Giorgio Morandi's famous bottles. Is it a pure chance or has him inspired this series of yours?
Morandi is one of my favorite artists and surely I have been influenced by his production.
I don't miss any chance to look deeply at every artistic thing I happen to see, especially on visiting exhibitions. I still remember the emotion to see the original prints of Ansel Adams and Irving Penn, or the visits I paid to Mario Giacomelli in his printing-works. I am particularly proud of my Giacomelli originals, he is surely the photographer who inspired me the most.
Can photography as a means of artistic expression offer more than painting, illustration, etc.?
Photography must not compete with traditional visual arts, it is just another means to make art.
What do you want to communicate with your images?
Everything and nothing at the same time. I don't care about messages but I represent emotions, sensations and everything the viewer will feel looking at my pictures.
What are your future projects?
I would like to maintain my enthusiastic drive to find the photo I have not made yet.
You owe a photographic gallery. Which are the best ways to let the public know about new talents these days?
Internet is surely the best way to introduce new and old talents to a wider public. Exhibitions and publications are furthermore important and shouldn't be abandoned.
Which advice would you give to a newbie photographer?
I would suggest to look carefully at the work of the photography Masters and visit their exhibitions, to learn the necessary but never copy them of course.
What is your biggest fear these days? And what makes you happy anyway?
I am afraid we will be forced to see images of destruction and war in the near future. Qhat makes me happy is looking at my son taking photos of his cats and listen to his comments when checking the results on the screen.
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