Photographer Davide Ambroggio gives us an insight into his life and work.
Tell us a little about yourself?
I was born in Treviso (a small city near Venice) in 1977. I started with photography in analogue, when I was sixteen. At that time I was a student at artistic high school in my city. My father is a visual artist and he always influenced me a lot, so, at a certain point, I felt the desire to express myself too. I was looking for a means of expression and that’s how I met photography. I started taking photos of my classmates, during the free time moments with a Pentax spotmatic and a 50mm f1.8…And I never gave up. As a professional photographer I started working in a studio near to my place, printing black and white photos in dark room. After two years I decided to move to study Cinema in Bologna where today I work and live. Actually in the last five years, after getting married to an Israeli girl, I also spend a few months every year in Israel. During these years, I’ve been through a lot of different experiences in several studios between Bologna and Milan exploring many fields of photography but today I’m specialized in fashion and portraits and I’m a photographer for Allure Models Agency.
Are you self-taught or did you study?
I could say that in photography I’m a self-taught educate. The truth is that I come from a very inspiring world. My father is a painter and I spent all of my childhood going around with him, visiting art shows and having artist around me. I started with photography when I was sixteen, taking portraits of my classmates at the artistic high school. And I never gave up. I did other things (I have a degree in cinema disciplines) but at the end, become a professional photographer was natural.
How much personal work do you shoot?
As much as I can! I don’t have a lot of time to work on personal projects at the moment (and I could say that it’s good) but when I don’t work, I always find the time to take some personal series, usually portraits or nude.
What’s your favourite photo/series you have shot?
It’s very difficult for me to identify a series as my favourite one. I hardly go back to see my old series because usually, a week after the publication I don’t like them anymore. Anyway, if we are talking about fashion series, one of my best work is “wild swans”, a series I took one year ago for Satellite Magazine -Los Angeles.
What’s in your bag?
I have a couple Nikon bodies (a D600 and a D700), a Polaroid, some fixed lenses (20mm,28mm,50mm,85mm) and some cobra flashlights. I don’t put a lot of money in my cameras; I prefer invest in lenses and studio equipment (lights and accessories).
What lens could you not live without?
Definitely my 50mm f1.4
Studio or Location?
It depends on the project. I feel quite comfortable in both of the situations.
Natural light or Flash?
Same answer. It depends on the project!
Which photographers inspire you and why?
Well, there are some photographers who are particular inspiring for me. For fashion and portraits photography, some of them are Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel, Mario Testino, Tim Walker, Miles Aldridge. In reportage photography the list is even longer but for me the master still is Henri Cartier Bresson. I love the sensibility and delicacy I used to approach people and situations.
What Project are you working on now?
I keep going with a personal project, started a couple of years ago (you can see some of those photos on my blog), about very simple and clean portraits of girls, models but also friends or simply people met by chance while walking around, portrayed in their places.
What’s your process for coming up with ideas and then turning them into a shoot?
There is no role. Sometimes I have an idea on my mind and I just try to put it on a shoot but in other cases, I simply see something or someone interesting and the idea for a series comes out naturally. When I think of a fashion shooting, I often take inspiration from the works I see around me (I spend a lot of time in platforms like Behance, studying the works of my colleagues) and from any kind of media. But if we talk about a portraits series, It’s always a person what inspires me. I love people. I love the idea of discovering them with my photos. So, I see someone who mesmerizes me and I feel the desire of knowing him/her with my camera.
How has your style developed and changed over time?
It’s difficult to say; someone else, could probably say that better than me. I think my style is about the same. But I can say that I changed a lot my approach to a set and to the people who work on it. Today I know better what I want and how to get it. I also found out that some little details sometimes make a difference in an image.
Your work mostly revolves around shooting people/models how do you go about getting your models to give you what you need?
I don’t have a rules to get what I want. The only thing I try to do with my team and so with the model too, is trying to involve them in my project, sharing all my ideas during the photoshoot.
What’s your number one tip for post processing?
The best post processing is a good taste
Could you choose a photo you have taken, and explain how it was shot and processed?
I’m not good in post-production. Often people tell me “nice shot! How did you post-produced it?” Well… The truth is that I come from analogic era and I’m used to get what I need from my photos when I take them. Most the lights/colors/effects that you can see in my photos, were there at the moment I took them! I attach here a shot that shows it. Two flaslights with colored jelly, long time exposure and my hand moving during the exposure… that’s it!
iso 500. 1/6 sec. F4.5
What’s the one thing you know now that you wished you knew when you started out as a photographer?
One thing I know is that at the beginning of my career I wasted a lot of time. Maybe because when you are young, you always think “ok, there is a lot of time!”. So, if I were able to speak to Davide in his twenties, I’d say him: “hurry up, Davide! You have a long way to go!”
Make sure you check out Davide’s website to see more of his work.
