Interview with Jean-Marc Caracci
– Please introduce yourself
Of 100% Sicilian heritage, I was born in Tunisia in 1958… but I have lived in south of France, Montpellier, since his little childhood.
– How did you get interested in photography?
I was around 15, my big brother made me watch into the viewfinder of his camera (a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye)… and it was just magic. Then he lend it to me, and I photographed my great family (mom & dad + 3 brothers and 2 sisters). Since this time, shooting people is what I like the most.
– Do you have an artistic/photographic background?
I am a total selftaught in shooting, but I have a diplom of black&white photo laboratory.
– Which artist/photographer inspired your art?
My style is clearly inspired by photographers like Henri Cartier Bresson, Elliott Erwitt, Raymond Depardon… but also by the American painter Edward Hopper.
– How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph?
Regarding my street photographs, I am first looking for the right place and light… then I can stay for a long time (sometime more than one hour) at this place, shooting invividuals passing, or just waiting for one passing. And of course, if I am not satisfied by the result, I am able to come back and come back again at this same place, until I manage to make the best photo.
– Could you please tell us something about your technique and creating process?
I work with a Nikon D300, lens 17-55mm (which I usually use from 20mm to 35mm). Regarding the prints for sale, I use the paper HARMAN by Hahnemuehle FB Baryta paper.
– What do you do in your life besides photography?
Nothing but photography. OK, I must say it is not enough for living, but I get some help from the French state, and you know, I am not very demanding. And by the way, I am a travel lover… who use photography as an excuse for travelling abroad and meeting new people/cultures (which could be considered as my “hobby”.
– What future plans do you have? What projects would you like to accomplish?
After photographing 38 European capitals, in the frame of my big series « Homo Urbanus Europeanus », I plan to photograph 4 more capitals this summer (Minsk, Tbilisi, Yerevan and Baku)… the I will publish a book. This one will be a huge job, as I want to associate 42 European writers novelists (contributors) to my album, as much writers as countries visited for making my series « HUE ». I work on this album project since a few years already, but I plan to finish the job next year… and publish the book.
Website: homo.urbanus.free.fr