Tag: instant photography

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How I went to ‘Biennale Cinema 76’ (and woke up at 6AM everyday).

Three years have passed since my first and only visit to ‘Biennale Cinema’ – Venice’s film festival – and this year I finally managed to head back there. Back in may, after I realised that I would have had only a few summer vacation days since I used most of them to go to Japan in Easter, I decided to plan two brief long-weekend trips in August: one in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival to attend a friend’s play, and another in Venice. I thorougly planned the the movie schedule I would have tried to stick to during my four days in the sultry september weather that plagues the festival every year, in order to get inside the dark venues where movies were screened all day long.

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How I always end up having more and more pictures (and thoughts) to share.

By developing and printing pictures in the weekends and spare hours at the end of the day, I noticed that more and more extra pictures are piling up – waiting for some recognition. Single pictures that don’t fit into any themed article I share on this blog, but still portray a moment of everyday life – which i mostly spend with a camera around my neck or in my pocket. Some of these pictures even date back years, while others are more recent and just were previously underappreciated and only now noticed.  Since sorting through sleeves of negatives is time consuming – as much as setting up the dark room is – I need to focus on discipline and consistency. And I have to accept that I might not ever be able to print all the pictures I take. Luckily, this thought does not frighten me: I believe that such acceptance of the incomplete power that all of us have over the events of life is an underlying element of any aspect of life itself; accepting the limits of what can be done. Therefore, time management and satisfaction. I have tons of hobbies and interests, and I’m happy even with the little I can get out of any of them. Having at least some pictures to look at, to remind myself of the moment I took that picture – in a visually appealing photograph, giving me the chance to see, or at least imagine, the life of the people portrayed in it –  is enough.

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How we filmed two trailers (and I shot instant pictures for backstage).

Back in March this year me, my girlfriend and some other cinema-loving friends filmed a teaser trailer for the new theatre show produced by the amateur company iBirbanti – company founded by some high school friends  and in which I also help  as a technician. This is the second year since attending the Civica ‘Luchino Visconti’ cinema school in 2016 during which we have the chance to write, produce and shoot a short movie. Satisfied with our previous results, we attempted an even bigger challenge: making two different trailers, with different tones and styles, in order to fit them into the promotion campaign. Giuditta and I were in charge of the first one, and I decided to test out during the shootings both my vintage Polaroid instant cameras (i.e. Spectra Full-Switch and SLR680) for some backstage candids.

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How I spent my winter holidays in Paris with my girlfriend (and a total of 5 cameras).

Ahead of this trip, I went to Paris only few times and did not manage to create enough memories of it: the first time was about 20 years ago, so I was too young to fully comprehend the experience this city gives. The second time was for just one night in 2014, while driving back from our theatre company’s show for the Camden Fringe Festival. Therefore this can be considered my first proper visit in Paris – and its beauty stunned me nonetheless. Looking down on the city from midway to the top of the Tour Eiffel and from the verge of Montmartre, and viceversa getting glimpses of the sky through the glass vaults of the passages: not something easily done anywhere.

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How two friends and I went (along with heat and typhoon Noru) on my third trip to Japan.

I suggest reading the article listening to this great piece of japanese jazz – to sync your mood with what we felt during the trip.

Since any of my first two trips to Japan (i.e. in 2012 and 2015) were not enough to satisfy my hunger for experiences in that amazing country, I decided to head back to the narrow streets of Tōkyō and other cities once again. As I did during my previous trip, I went with people I care a lot about and with whom I can share my interest for the country. We chose a wide array of cities to visit, and added Kanazawa and Aomori to my usual tour plan. Moreover we all went on the trip with cameras – and a total of 25 rolls of Ilford HP5 and 10 cartridges of I-type instant film to shoot in a 24-days trip – so everything pointed to it being first and foremost a photo-voyage.

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