#simone ridi

Art Mood On by Eloisa Reverie Vezzosi

simoneridiphoto

Interview with photographer Simone Ridi ll Artist on Tumblr Interview by Arnoldas Lukas Vaitkunas

Something dark and emotional. This is how I would like to describe photography of 35 year-old photographer, based in Florence – Simone Ridi. Even though photography is more of a self-expression than a job, Simone has created and participated in several exhibitions (personal and collective), and various competitions by achieving good results. Now Simone is working as a graphic designer and we had a chance to look closer to his amazing artwork.

When have you found photography as an important part of your daily life routine and how?

I began to live the photography very early, when digital was still more of a concept than an actual fact. I have spent several hours in the darkroom, and I also threw away plenty of films ... The digital came in for business purposes, for greater immediacy of the final result. Initially there was not a visceral love for it, it was more of a curious approach to the world of image.  As time passed by I realized that photography was eating me up, I entered something so vast and welcoming, which turned into a need to express myself through it. A language that is now an important part of my life, almost a filter through which I have a better view of what surrounds me. It 's like if I looked at the flow of events through the viewfinder of my camera.

It seems that you focus on portraits / body parts. Is there a reason why not landscapes, architecture or other style of photography? 

I love to photograph people, in their complete entirety. There is not a single part of the human body which, viewed in proper perspective, is not interesting, fascinating. I love to photograph people also for the close contact that is created during the photo session, I try to reach a feeling with the subject of the portrait, to create a link, even if brief, that allows me to understand who is in front of me, to "live" him. I like being able to capture, in a portrait, part of the real personality of the person in front of me, and not just the pose and the expression that I ask him to take. In fact I explored all fields of photography: fashion photography, landscape, and still life. But I do not feel the same pleasure. The landscape photos, for example, require a processing and preparation of the shot that I feel does not belong to me, I find it hard and I do not get the desired results. Other genres, I love to see them performed by those who are better than me in them, to enjoy their images. I believe that each one of us has a different way of experiencing photography; I can make a hand become interesting, which perhaps in the context would have gone unnoticed, or a flaw of the body that normally you would want to hide. Others are capable of giving a soul to the objects, to live a structure, a building. I do not believe in people who mix too many genres together. Photography is a language, each uses its own idioms, everyone expresses their vocabulary, and style is the ability to express themselves with their own inner world.

How do you come up with ideas to create a certain shot, theme for photo shoot? 

Inspiration is everywhere; you just need to know how to see it. An idea can come from a good book, from an evening spent in front of a beer with friends, can arise from a glance, something that draws us and immediately we make our own. We live in a world where we are bombarded by images, data, information, and sounds. Often just being able to put order in the confusion helps to realize that you have a good idea in hand. Personally, I am inspired by my discomfort, if I have a question that crushes my head, I try to find an answer through research, a work that I do on myself, and that I carry in my images.

You produce both colorful and black&white photographs. What style of coloring do you like applying and using more and why? 

I have a deep love for black and white photography, I love it, I love it to distraction. I believe that if an image, totally without color, is able to trigger strong emotions in the viewer, then you are in front of a small miracle. Contrary to what you might think, it is very difficult to create a good black and white, and even more difficult to print it properly. As for the world of color, I like soft colors, desiderated, do not particularly love the brightness, I prefer a tone that makes people think, rather than one that surprised.