OUT OF SEASON
PAOLO RUGGIERO
TOURS SEASIDE RESORTS IN WINTER
In my research into
winter sea, my photo sessions usually start at dawn, when I
leave Bologna by car and drive alone to resorts on Italy's
Adriatic coast, full of tourists in summer, theatrically
desolate landscapes in autumn and winter.
Then I start walking. I usually find my images by foot,
walking streets I've never seen before, although these
seaside resorts, adapted for tourist use since the 1960s,
are often very similar to each other.
When I have defined my area of interest, I start to search
for an "empathy" between me and the landscape I see in the
camera. This empathy is not a "decisive moment", just my
fine-tuning the places and spaces I decide to photograph.
It's a process that can take a lot of time before the shot.
Over the years I
have reduced the number of my shots and increased the time
spent on each one.
In other occasions, for example when I'm doing travel
photography, I have a more instintive approach with the
shooting, trying to record an atmosphere or seize a moment,
especially in urban contexts.
I'm fascinated by the hint of a human presence or the
contrast between "small" human silhouettes and a large
landscape.
Snapshots help reduce the visual complexity of reality.
We only rarely manage to concentrate, to read the spaces and
the objects around us with the attention that their
photographic depiction allows us when we can reflect at our
leisure.
So in my work I also attach importance to the selection,
made later, of printed photos.
I use colour film with reflex cameras and moderate
wide-angle or 50mm lenses, without filters.
Sometimes I use a Polaroid or digital camera just to have a
general view of the light.
Since 1995 I have taken photos almost daily, updating a kind
of diary of the everyday life of me and my friends.
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