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CECILIA MINUTILLO
In Conversation With:
F: Where are you based, how has this influenced your creativity?
C: I am based in Rome (even though I am living in Barcelona now, but just until the end of July). I think I have deeply been influenced by the studies on lights and shadows by Caravaggio, my favourite painter, showcased in many churches and museums in Rome. In fact, I tend to use light in a thoughtful way, keeping in mind that the dualism between light and shadow is part of our essence.
F: You focus your photography around portraiture, what is it about capturing people that inspires you?
C: I think portrait photography gives me the chance to explore human nature. When I say nature, I mean it in its literal sense: I honestly believe that a person’s face, with all its unique features and flaws, could also be seen like a beautiful landscape to discover. Or, at least, this is how I like to see it.
F: What atmosphere do you try to convey in your images?
C: When I shoot personal projects, I don’t really try to convey a fixed atmosphere because I don’t want to force things. I actually think that a certain kind of atmosphere comes out naturally during the shooting, mainly depending on the chemistry between me and my subjects. Concerning more technical choices, such as the chromatic range that I look for, I try to choose rolls with certain kind of tones and exposures.
F: Where do your main influences come from?
C: I guess my main influences come from cinema; I have always been an avid movie viewer.
I think I’ve learnt a lot about chromatic coherence and use of light from Krzysztof Kieślowski movies, which are some of my favourite pieces ever. In fact, sometimes I find myself thinking about them a lot when I take pictures, especially his trilogy called “Trois couleurs”, where there is a meticulous (almost obsessive) attention to the use of colours and light.
F: How do you approach the relationship between you and your subject?
C: I always try to make my subjects feel comfortable, even when it’s a more professional shooting. Also, I tend to speak with them some days before the shooting (if it’s possible), in order to break the ice and create a relaxed atmosphere on set. I ask them how they feel in certain poses (and I change them if they don’t feel happy, because a model’s discomfort is visible in pictures). Concerning the choice of my subjects, when I’m able to choose, I tend to prefer alternative and unconventional beauties.
F: Where do you see yourself creatively progressing?
C: I honestly hope to be in the camera department of a movie someday. As I said, one of the main influences on my works has been cinema and I am working hard on my pictures and my studies to become a cinematographer.
F: What are the key concepts you want to provoke in the viewer?
C: I want the viewer to believe in the power of photography as a lens that has two powers: it makes you look through the person in front of it, but it also helps you look inside yourself. My wish is that, looking at my pictures, the viewer finds something about themselves that they did not know about.
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