10 Years of Urban Melodies

In December 2012 I was returned since a few months from a trip to Istanbul where I discovered in a exhibition Jak Baruh’s photos, a Turkish photographer who works with multiple exposures: it was an illumination. I wrote a small note in my notebook and then I left it there for two-three months to “rest”. On December 14, 2012, I finally started working on some photos of Paris, without even imagining what it would lead me to. It wasn’t a very successful test, but it was the seed of a photographic project that I now have the good fortune and privilege to call work. Ten years later, hundreds and hundreds of URBAN MELODIES are hanging on walls all over the world, thanks to them I did a private exhibition in Chicago, I went on a cruise ship, in Jordan, on the French Riviera and hopefully, in the future, in other beautiful places.

Q & A – Film People Project

My Film People Project was born in February 2019. It’s a series of portraits where each person is photographed with the title of his/her favorite film, or what he/she consider the film of his/her heart. Since often the people portrayed (and not only) ask me many questions about this project, I decided to collect the questions on this page to fully satisfy your curiosity. So far I realized 168 photos and I can’t wait for the next!

Why did you choose to do this project?
There are so many influences that have then flowed into this project. First of all, I studied cinema, which is perhaps my greatest passion, and I liked the idea of ​​combining two things that I love very much: cinema and photography. This was definitely the spark. Then, also influenced by the beautiful Humans of New York project, I thought it would be interesting to discover, through the choice of the favorite film, the stories behind this choice, why a person wrote the title of a film rather than another. I believe that the choice of the favorite film can reveal a lot about the person portrayed: an intimate corner of his person, somehow a piece of his soul, so I liked this idea of ​​discovering which film was behind the people I meet. Normally I realize urban photography and street photography, but I have always been fascinated by portraits, a photographic genre that I really desired to experiment: I am quite a shy person and I knew that this project would also be a challenge for me with myself, to improve an aspect of me that, with the work I do, I definitely need to develop.

Looking for New Ideas (and Other Stuff)

I’d want to write more on this blog. I know, I’ve already said so a lot of times, but I want to try once more. Maybe I should tell something personal, like how is my life as a photographer, or maybe I should divulge photography, post photos that I like, write about photobooks or photographers that inspire me, or maybe I don’t know. So I ask you: there is something that you want to find here, on this blog? What kind of content you would like to read here? I’m very open to every kind of suggestion, but don’t ask me to talk about gears or cameras because I’m really ignorant about it. I know, I’m a photographer and everybody thinks that I should know everything about what happens on the photo market, but I really have no idea about it. I have my camera(s), my lens and I’m happy with them, so I’m not interested in reading o knowing more about the next generation of cameras. Beside that, if you have some idea for a feature or some content for this blog, I’ll be happy to hear you. Don’t be shy, there are no wrong answers.

8 Years of Urban Melodies

8 years ago I had returned since few months from a trip to Istanbul where, in an exhibition, I discovered Jak Baruh’s works, a Turkish photographer who works with multiple exposures. It was an epiphany. I wrote a small note in my notebook and then left it there for two or three months to “rest”.

On December 14, 2012 I finally started working on some multi-layered pictures, without even imagining what it would lead me to. It wasn’t a very successful test, but it was the seed of a photographic project that now I have the luck and privilege to call “work”. After that test image, I asked a dear friend of mine for an opinion: “I’m trying to do some work with the multiple exposures, I’m doing some tests. I want to do it again better, though I want to send it to you so you can tell me if you think a nice idea can come out of it “.

Autumn Came: My New Set Of Raindrop Blues

Autumn finally came, after the warmest september of the last years (at least here in Rome…). Now the temperature felt down suddenly and the first rains are already arrived: for me it’s been the occasion to come back under the rain to take some new images for my series Raindrop Blues. Here a selection of new pictures taken in august and september (so also in Southern Italy, during the only rainy day of summer!).

“Train Moments” by Dina Alfasi

I love to observe people on public transportations, I think they represent the real soul of a city, with their thoughts, their worries, their dreams. Israeli photographer Dina Alfasi, who works in hospital as engineer, takes bus and train to go to work and captures candid images of people around her. As she said: “I’m inspired by the little moments that happen every day. My work is a testament to telling stories through a single photo and proof that all you need is just to look around to find magic moments”. Her photos are just amazing, all taken with an iPhone. Follow Dina’s work on Instagram.

Cinemascope

I’m working on something new, something different from my usual works. Maybe it’s not a very original idea, I don’t know, but I’m just trying to see if it works, if I like it, if you like it. The concept is to interpretate a street photo as a movie, with a line of an imaginary script (my degree in Cinema surely influenced all this stuff). These are the first “frames” that I’ve realized in the last days, in the meanwhile I’ll decide if I’ll go on with this idea. Thank you for all the feedbacks and suggestions.

Distant But Close

The world through your windows. This album is realized by you, it’s just a way to be closer in the distance, during the lockdown caused by the Covid19 emergency. I’m trying to map the world outside your windows in this difficult time, where we can’t leave our houses. Send me your photo here: a.trerotoli@gmail.com (and, if you want, add a line to describe the scene).

All the pictures will be posted in the album on my Facebook page: the name of the album is Distant But Close.

Please send me your image and spread the word!

Photo by Marco (New York City, USA)

How To Keep Your Passion For Photography Alive When You’re Facing a Crisis

[Come Mantenere Viva la tua Passione per la Fotografia: versione italiana qui]

Do you remember when you begun to take photos? You were full of enthusiasm, you used to take pictures to everything, everybody in every moment. Then, when you get more experience, you begin to shoot less, but the quality of your pictures is better. Finally, mostly when photography becomes your job, you have to face a crisis, a lack of motivation slides inside your brain, you are sick of your camera and bored to take pictures. But don’t worry, it’s pretty normal and there are a lot of ways to overcome this crisis and get new inspirations.

Film People

My new series is finally out! Follow the new site and Instagram page to stay in touch with the project. Here the first 15 portraits of this collection of Film People.

Guglielmo, Manhattan (1979)
“I remember I’ve seen it when I was a teenager on a tape where the 16:9 bends were blue and not black. Last time I’ve seen it was in a cinema, a few years ago, I was with a girl that I would never see again”