The Look

Fisherman - Enoshima Island, Japan 120mm black and white film. From the series "The Look". Every time I point my camera at someone it is a strange / magic process… I always try to establish a - one at one - conversation with my subject… Even if literally it takes a fraction of a second to build a whole story. And that’s what happens. They LOOK at me and I press the shutter. And that gaze it’s there… captured through the lens, frozen in space and time, recorded on film…forever. I love collecting those fleeting moments in which that sudden LOOK can tell it… ALL. The unique individuality of the person before the camera is manifested in his/her eyes, the most “personal” distinctive characteristic we have, and in the expression on that specific instant. I am not fond of captioning my work. I prefer to leave it open to the viewers. It is up to them to “get it”, “imagine it” or simply “make it up” by themselves. If I succeed in that, my mission is accomplished: I have communicated something; I have shared a vision, a moment in time, a story… …isn’t this what a photographer supposed to do? Saying with images what words cannot?