Photographer Profile: Alessandro Greganti

My name is Alessandro Greganti, I’m 35 and I work as system administrator at the University of Turin. I live with my girlfriend Stefania and our wonderful 6 years old son Andrea in Moncalieri, a little city just near Turin. I don’t really like to write my bio because I don’t have so much to say nor I lived an exciting life, the only thing I know for sure is that I’m constantly fascinated by people and streets and I need to photograph them!

Q: When or why did you decide to start taking pictures? Did someone influence you?

I began to take photographs with a cheap DSLR in 2006 but I’ve always had some kind of attraction to photography. I remember my father taking pictures with his Canon FTb when I was child and I was fascinated by that strange tool capable of making pictures. I think that, involuntarily, he led me to photography: DNA doesn’t lie!

Q: Can you recall the first photo you took (or saw) that made you go WOW!?

Not really, but I do remember clearly the picture that led me to the street photography. That was “Planet terror”. I shot it on the bus while returning home on a rainy day. It’s grainy and slightly out of focus but the expressions I had the luck to capture are priceless to me. Still one of my favorites.

Q: Do you have any formal training in photography?

No, I don’t. I’m trying to develop my skills looking at others work and pressing the shutter button the more I can.

Q: What is your favorite gear for shooting on the street?

Currently I use an iPhone 4 and a Fuji X100 even though my Nikon D50 is always ready. I know its limitations very well but I mostly use the iPhone because is always with me, is lightweight, unobtrusive and always ready. That’s the reason why I can say that is actually my “best” camera. Usually, when I look at a picture, I don’t think about the camera with which is taken. As said, I’m conscious of the limits of a phone so if there’s someone out there who want to give me a Leica I’ll accept it with joy!

Q: Do you think of yourself as an artist and what do you think of the word artist?

I actually don’t consider myself as an artist. I don’t feel very comfortable with that word because I associate it to the great artists of the past (painters, sculptors, photographers, musicians and so on) who had the intuition and capability to break the rules and leave a milestone in the story. That said, I think that every action that requires to develop a personal point of view could be considered as art even though, at present day, is an hackneyed word.

Q: What has been the single biggest obstacle for you growing as a street photographer?

I’m still growing, I’m a newborn who try to explore this wonderful world. I’ve always had a unexplainable attraction to street photography and I think that my biggest obstacle was to have my camera at home. When I discovered the mobile photography community and I saw how amazing can be a picture taken with a modern cell phone, that obstacle flew away. Today I can go out and take some street pics with any kind of camera.

Q: Describe a typical day for you as a street photographer?

I wander down the streets watching life flowing. Usually I haven’t time enough to go out for hours so I often use my lunch break to take some pics. I wish I had more time to dedicate to street photography in the future.

Q: How do you describe your style as a street photographer?

I don’t know if I have a style, to be called street photographer is quite enough. I take photographs of those things that catch my attention, many times by instinct, without thinking too much. I’m fond of black and white pictures but lately I’m slowly and shyly experimenting colors.

I think that street photography has the aim to show the hidden beauty in every day life to those who are too busy to see it.

I look for lights and shadows or an interesting background and then I put a human presence in it trying to create a sort of interaction between elements. Sometimes I love empty spaces though, because I love to show places without people to show the absence of a primary element. I hope that makes sense!

Q: What inspires you to be a street photographer?

Living is also to remember, perhaps with a photograph, to be cast into a past that seems so far away but is actually integral part of our present. The experiences that we live add important pieces to the mosaic of life to integrate and enhance its beauty and uniqueness. I wonder when I will be able to see it in its entirety and if that day everything will seem clearer to me or if I will find out that there is nothing more to discover. Maybe this is what fascinates me, the constant search for a rational explanation to a world that seems to proceed regardless of any rule or constraint. I pause to observe what’s around me and everything is wonderfully complex. I’m fascinated by the autonomy with which everything flows following rhythms that are precise and unpredictable at the same time. I love the beauty of normality and I want to photograph a moment in time.

Q: Tell a little secret about yourself that no-one knows…

I could do it but then I should kill you!