Interview with Stefano Orazzini

#1 Please introduce yourself:
My name is Stefano Orazzini and i’m an italian photographer. Born 1972 in Cecina, Tuscany, where i currently live with my wife.

#2 How did you get interested in photography?
I’ve always taken photographs ever since I was a child, with my father’s old Ferrania camera. In the ’90s, as an amateur, I have dedicated myself to sports, nature and astronomy photography with a Nikon FM10. In particular, cycling: Tour de France, Giro d’Italia … Finally I have been passionate about art photography since 2005, especially in black and white.

#3 Do you have an artistic/photographic background?
I didn’t attend art or photography schools, I am a self taught photographer. But I’ve always been passionate about art in all its forms (painting, sculpture, historic and modern architecture ..) and in my life I have visited hundreds of museums and exhibitions. Among my favorite artists are Caravaggio, Leonardo, Piero della Francesca, Vermeer, Mondrian, Morandi, Giacometti, Dali…

#4 Which artist/photographer inspired your art?
In terms of technique and expression in black and white there is no doubt that the work of Edward Weston, Bill Brandt, Ansel Adams and then Michael Kenna has been a source of great inspiration. As for the poetry, I really admire the work of Hiroshi Sugimoto. His original artworks, seen live, are astounding: amazing in the technical perfection and conceptually very inspiring. Among others, i’m a fan of the representatives of the Düsseldorf school (Bernd and Hilla Becher, Gursky, Struth, Ruff, Höfer, Hütte, Esser …), of some Americans as Shore, Eggleston or Meyerowitz, of japanese photographers as Ueda, Shibata or Watanabe and finally some Italian photographers of the 70s and 80s as Ghirri, Giacomelli, Basilico, Castella, Chiaramonte, Fontana and Guidi.

#5 How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph? Are you planning every step or is it always spontaneous?
I like working on projects. The inspiration for a project can occur at any time, during a walk or ride a bike, or sitting on the couch reading a book or watching a movie. So i start to search for suitable subject. If the first results are interesting, I search new subject and extend my project. I’m very selective in the choice of my images and I make very few photographs during my photo trips. Hardly my photographs are spontaneous and unplanned. I don’t seek “the decisive moment” like Cartier Bresson, so i don’t always carry with me my camera, I carry it only when I go to photograph.

#6 What fascinates you in places that you shoot?
The charm of the places I photograph is closely tied to the project I’m pursuing. So any place or object of the visible world can become interesting.In my first projects every rock or jetty or landscape could become interesting, but after a few years i’m tired of the same subject and recently I’m going to try something more original. I am aware that everything becomes more difficult, but it is also much more challenging.

#7 We can see your photographs only in black and white, why have you chosen to present them in this form?
I can’t tell the exact reason why I chose black and white as a means of expression. Every day we are bombarded with colors: television, advertising, traffic, supermarkets … The black and white photography for me is like a trip back in time and a way to escape from this world. Perhaps because 90% of contemporary photographers use color and I don’t like to follow the trendy styles of the moment. Or because it allows you to direct the viewer’s gaze on the subject, the message of black and white is stronger and more direct. Also it allows me to follow the entire imaging process: from capture, to the development of the negative and the printing. Finally, I think that a black and white photograph is timeless and never gets boring.