Do you remember when the disposable camera was only 12 clicks?
You couldn’t even imagine shooting close-ups at your pasta dish. Any error was a photograph lost, no second chance. Professional photographers were limited by the length of the roll as well as the beginners.
In the last decades, the scenario completely changed: even in cheap cameras, hundreds of pics can be stored on one SD card and many attempts are allowed. This is creating an enormous amount of data and frames, in addition to exposing a great number of people to the photography field.
A profession that was already very difficult to monetize looks like is entering a dead-end tunnel. It is not really like this, Paolo Giocoso says:
"Mass production pictures are good for the social media platforms but cannot be used for professional purposes. As a professional you need the right photo at the right time"
Paolo is a travel photographer. I met him in Palermo, his city of birth and we started a very interesting chat about travels and photography.
MWB writes about travel adventures and I realized photos are more than half of the stories shared in each article and post. I think Paolo's instinctive way of approaching his job could be very inspiring for an inexperienced photographer like me:
"The intent is to return an experience, not only a graphic work. It is a spontaneous act, it has to translate and imprint on the film the tale of the place"
His highlight on the adventure and improvisation aspect declares his approach to traveling as well:
"I feel more a traveler who collects frames of the world rather than a tourist with a camera in hand".
Professional travel journalism, a dream job for many, is not only about improvisation of course. Usually, the magazine gets in contact with a tour operator or the state tourism body, builds a relationship and signs a deal. Starting from a draft program in collaboration with a journalist, the trip begins. According to Paolo only being open to truly experience a place can bring back the best stories. Aiming at discovering, is the starting point, welcoming the differences and establishing links is the way to go.
"You need to put your heart in a frame and the best way is to empathize with people"
"The plus is to be permeable in catching emotions, interactions, traditions. In one word: LIFE"
The technical part is given for granted but is hard to build. It is study, experience, errors and attempts.
For a travel photographer, the difficult part is to get what you want at the right time and place. You are not going back for another shooting on the other side of the world one week later like it could happen working for other industries.
I had the feeling that it is very similar to the disposable 12 clicks camera:
find what - plan carefully how - shoot.
The length of the roll is not a constrain anymore but time and place are. You need to focus and be entirely part of the environment you are capturing to report its essence.
The ability to foresee the potential picture and wait for it makes the difference.
It is a matter of seconds and this job grabs pieces of life that can last forever.
Comments