Lorena's Epiphany

And study.

December 20, 2009 at 1:57 pm Leave a comment

Fashion shot by Graziano Villa

If Graziano Villa could give aspiring photographers one word of advice, it would be: study. Study the great photographers. Buy a book with the work of Annie Leibovitz (who, by the way, he is friends with and has photographed). Save that money you’ve been saving for that trip with your boy/girlfriend and invest it in some good photography books (his actual words). Get up close and personal with the photos. Look at them once, twice, ten times. Learn all about your camera. Learn about what makes it tick and how to make the most of it. But remember, in the end, no matter the type of camera you use, it is just a tool. Your mind is what controls the outcome.

And do more dark room photography. Ideally, developing black and white films. He once took a photo of a black woman, wearing black, against a black background and still achieved contrast. I’d like to try that.

Photography is visual play. The more you do it, the better you’ll get and the louder your artistic voice will be. Last word of advice from Graziano Villa: stay humble.

And study.

Check out his work here. He’s currently working on a book about champagne.

Entry filed under: Floating. Tags: aspiring, beirut, coffee, Graziano Villa, Italian, photographer, tips.