Interview Gianpaolo Arena
Photography is a chance to comprehend life and mankind.
Name: Gianpaolo Arena
Hometown: Treviso, near Venice, Italy
Style of photography: Landscape, architecture, portrait, documentary
Type of camera(s): Analog medium format: Hasselblad, Fuji 690, Pentax 67. Digital Nikon. Leica m6
Website: www.gianpaoloarena.com
What gives you inspiration?
Life. Emotions, freedom, love, light. Injustice, loneliness, isolation, ambiguity, Human contradiction, fear, disintegration. My consciousness and my unconsciousness. My culture. The mystery. My lonesome vagabonding, a feeling of urgency. Everything around me: people, places, things. Personal experience and my memories. My thoughts. The intimate mood and feelings of people and mine in the landscape. The exploration of a “kind of mental space”.
What are your influences?
I am interested in the American social landscape tradition – from Walker Evans through to Adams, Baltz, Shore, Eggleston, Sternfeld, Christenberry. The Dusseldorf School. The Italian landscape School: Ghirri, Guidi, Jodice, Chiaramonte, Castella, Fossati, Zanta. In open order Weegee, Gary Winogrand, Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, Ed Rusha, John Gossage, Michael Schmidt, Paul Graham, Larry Sultan, Philip Lorca di Corcia, Chris Killip, Rineke Dijkstra, Sophie Ristelhueber, Rinko Kawauchi, Nan Goldin, Kohei Yoshiyuki, Raymond Depardon, Jem Southam, Joachim Brohm, Mitch Epstein, Martin Parr, John Davies, Alec Soth, Todd Hido, Cuny Janssen, Clare Richardson, Adam Jeppesen, Paul Seawright, Karin Apollonia Müller, Eugene Richards, Anders Petersen, JH Engstrom. Discussion in photography with my friends Andrea, Claudio, Andrea, Steve, Gaetano, Alberto, Luca, Rosario, Roberto, Piero. Online blogs and magazines. I have a blog called the blue room. It is a window on contemporary photography, art, music, cinema, literature…
Why did you choose these photos?
They give an indication of my work over the past 3 years, they mean a lot for me.
What does photography mean to you?
Photography, for me, becomes a sensitive way of recognizing the intangible meaning in the world. It’s an intimate and sensual space for contemplation, appreciation, thoughts and feelings. A chance to comprehend life and mankind.
Photos:
Copyright reserved by Gianpaolo Arena
