The photographer SERGIO CATTINI brings the Island of Elba on the National Geographic
It 'an important period for the Florentine photographer Sergio Cattini (almost adopted by Elba) that after a period of interruption, raised with great determination to emerge in the difficult world of photography. And the whole started exactly from the Island of Elba. "I had decided to stop, not to invest more about this passion, frightened by technology advancing fast. But then I realized that only the mind matters. "
He started again in 2016, when he begun to take off beautiful satisfactions, including a very important worldwide.
- 2016: Finalist (shortlisted) to 'major competition National Geographic Italy, with publication on the official website as one of the best photographs in the Places and Landscapes category. The photo, needless to say,was taken in the magnificent Elba Island http://www.nationalgeographic.it/wallpaper/2016/10/24/foto/concorso_2016_luoghi_e_paesaggi_5-3279881/12/
- 2017: The same photo is again a finalist published by National Geographic Italy "Clouds and fog in the big picture of the week", in a thematic selection of the best shots participants at the National Geographic Italy 2016 competition http://www.nationalgeographic.it/wallpaper/2017/02/24/foto/nubi_e_nebbia_nelle_grandi_foto_della_settimana-3436030/11/
- Finalista (Shortlisted) ero stato anche nel concorso National Geographic Italia nel 2013 nella categoria ritratti -http://www.nationalgeographic.it/fotografia/2013/12/01/foto/concorso_2013_categoria_ritratti_5-1907080/4/
- 2017: special mention as one of the 50 best photos in the world in the Open category, Still Life of the world's largest photo contest: Sony World Photography Awards (the competition received more than 227 000 photographs from 183 countries). The photo will be displayed at the prestigious Somerset House in London from 21 April to 7 May 2017, along with the other winning photos. This is an award that really fills me with pride, being the biggest competition on the market and one of the largest ever https://www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-galleries/2017/open/commended/still-life/still-life
- 2017: Publication of photograph depicting a zebra on Glamour magazine, March (2017). The photograph is part of the Holiday Gift Catalog.
DEBUT WITH L 'ISOLA D' ELBA:
It all begun in 2012, when I started my studies at the Florentine school of photography Fondazione Studio Marangoni, specializing in Portrait Photography. At the end of the course the school organized an exhibition at the fsmgallery where I displayed a developed work on the Island of Elba. For the first work of some importance, I chose the place to which I'm so tied: I needed to feel at home, and with an open mind, what better choice ..
- When do you think a picture becomes by "author" ... (now on social medias we are all photographers):
Today everybody feel a bit photographers, but the world of photography is something enormously complex and that very few can fully understand. I myself have yet to understand many things. The factor that makes an important photography is the human mind, reasoning, personal taste, sensitivity, something that can never be replaced by a machine. I think technique is absolutely not a primary factor, it is simply an added bonus.
- What do you think of social medias and the avalanche of images they spread:
You used the right word: images. There is a wide difference between images and photographs.
- You Make lots of pictures in Black and White ...do you prefer it to colors? What kind of photos best represent you style?
I have no preference, it depends on what I want to communicate at the time. In general, more than a photographic, I prefer the pursuit of beauty and emotion. I currently do not consider myself neither a photographer nor an artist, I simply am a great researcher. And this principle also applies to the photographs of landscapes on Elba: I'm little interested in representing crystal clear waters, but rather emotions.
- What does the Island of Elba mean for you:
Elba has been and will always be important not only in my life every day, but also for my photographic growth. Elba means pleasant memories of childhood, means to become child again, and that's what makes my eyes more sensitive when the photographer is like returning back to the early years of life, rediscovering the typical curiosities of that period. I remember my summers in Sant'Ilario when I explored new places, discovered smells, sensations, forms. When I photograph I feel just like when I was 5, I relive the same emotions as when I went to the beach with the mask and was looking for fish, shells, starfish and saw everything with the 'novelty enthusiasm. This feeling has remained over the years and has never turned off due to the place I love most in the world, my home.
- A note on the small ancient village of Sant'Ilario:
Sant 'Ilario is the place where I reload myself, project new jobs and develop new ideas, far from the noise and rush of everyday life. I'll tell you an anecdote: two years ago I had given up and I was almost finished, I decided to abandon photography forever. Then when I got home I thought a clear mind and the decision to re-launch was made right there. I was going up the switchbacks from Campo and on my left I could see the beach. And there I had no more doubts: allotment from here, I thought.
- What are your next projects?
Get better and better. Allow me to thank and mention the most loyal and generous person I've ever known and that helped me to improve my photographic journey and life: thanks Mauro Cenci. And thanks to my parents and my girlfriend Alessia who have always supported me, and thank Elbamylove for this pleasant interview.
Sergio Cattini
Website: www.sergiocattini.com
