Our 500px community has no shortage of talented, acclaimed photographers whose work have made the pages (and covers) of renowned magazines, have gone viral across the Internet, and have won prestigious awards around the world. But what we find more interesting are the up-and-coming photographers on the verge of stardom, thanks to their fresh, new approach to capturing images. For example, there’s a new wave of young portrait photographers in Rome whose exceptional works are proof that they’re on their way to success—Ciro Galluccio, Chiara Lombardi, Federico Sciuca, and Miriana Pinna. And they’re all just under 30 years old! What’s even more inspiring is they have organized themselves into a community, a sure-fire way to expand their personal and professional network. Recently, they took over the500px Snapchat to capture their Roma Meetup photowalk — and it’s one of the popular galleries on 500px so far. Talk about squad goals! So we’ve decided to feature each one of these rising photographers, so you can put them — and their personal tips and tricks — on your radar.
Last time, we got to know Ciro Galluccio and Chiara Lombardi. Below, let’s meet Miriana Pinna, a 23-year-old from Sardinia. Read on!
How did you get started with photography?
MIRIANA PINNA: I started taking pictures when I was 14 after I saw a photograph by Henri Cartier Bresson. In that precise moment, I felt like I had a new obsession — something to focus my life on. I shoot because I rely on everything related to photography. It taught me how to consider things better. My eye is always ready to capture emotions and details that people are not even able to see. It’s a passion that really affects the way you see everything surrounds you.
Where do you find inspiration in your work?
It’s not easy for me to explain what inspires me. I must admit there’s something that switches me on in the gestures and expressions of everyday life. I really like the idea of making other people imagine a moment in their life through my pictures, the same way it happens with scenes in a movie. But it’s difficult; it’s something I’m still working on.
How do you choose your portrait subjects, and how do you approach a relationship with your models?
Every person I see discloses fascinating details. It happens very often I would point my camera to a common person in the bus, just because there’s a beautiful spot of light that comes from the outside and blurs on his or her face. My pictures are actually focused on models, but they are not really the effect of what inspires me. There are many other things who make me crazy that I haven’t shot yet. Talking about models, the thing that I generally do is studying their face before the shooting, in order to understand what kind of settings and colours can really underline their beauty. I need just a few moments with them, but I usually prefer having a short talk with them before I start. I could never go ahead without the human side of what I do. Poses are usually very natural. I usually try to make the model do what I need in an indirect way, so that everything seems the more natural possible. But I’ve always been very lucky on that, as models I worked with got inspired with me in the same moment. It’s an empathy issue, I suppose.
How do you develop an idea for a photo?
I’ve always been a person attracted by technical rigidity, but I nowadays must admit it’s not something that suits my personality. In the last two years I mostly worked on fading my excessive perfectionism, trying to bring it to a level that couldn’t stop me in any case. While the old Miriana took 20 seconds for just a snap, the current one prefers shooting everything around and having more photographs to select after the work. I just follow the flow, if it’s correct to say it. I don’t use to study the location before I shoot. I prefer starting immediately in order to see how the light works in the complete scene I had planned in my mind, and this method hasn’t still betrayed me. We will see…
How do you choose a photo title?
Titles are not my passion, indeed! When I upload a photo I put the first two words the photo suggests me, that it’s usually something related to the idea I want the scene gives to the viewer, or simply the model’s name (I think some people can be described through their own name simply). It sometimes happens I imagine a dialogue between the people I portray and I write a little cut as for a movie scene.
Let’s talk about location. How do you go about finding the right one?
Locations for me aren’t really a big matter. I always try to “squeeze” a place as much as I can. The amazing thing of photography is that you can make a beautiful picture just taking advantage of a small angle, and this is a true fact. The only thing I strongly avoid is green color in sunlight: I find it’s really annoying for my eye, and I often feel uncomfortable in wide green places as I’m not able to manage them properly. As many other photographers do, I’m more attracted by indoors or late day’s lights. It’s the moment of the day I feel more empathetic with the scene I’m shooting.
What makes good photo?
It’s a difficult topic indeed. The suggestions I think I’m able to give are about learning how to deal with everything is related to the photo. It’s not only the shooting itself, or the editing part. It’s about looking at the picture and understanding what it’s asking you to do. It’s not necessary being focused on technique. It’s necessary instead becoming part of what you are doing. What I mean is that in my opinion the key to get a good photo is already in the scene, and the good photographer is the one that is able to squeeze the elements until everything works and booms in beauty. The second thing it really helps me every day is looking at other people’s photos. I look at hundreds of pictures every day. This process made me able to get a pretty strong critical sensibility. When I see a snap I completely love, I ask myself whether I can do something to achieve that level or if I would have done something different from the photographer. I realized this is something that really helps me to grow as an artist. I work every day on that to get better.
What can we find in your camera bag?
My equipment is not very strong in quantity. At the moment I prefer working with fixed lens, in particular way with my old but amazing 50mm. I really love how it works in many occasions as it gives to the action an amazing spontaneity. I think the viewer better feels involved in the situation as he could live it personally.
How much post-processing is important to you?
Editing is an essential and completing part of my work. There isn’t anything better than laying on my bed and working on a picture I entirely produced. Editing is the artistic part of the shooting. You find yourself in front of your masterpiece and you can paint on it and do everything you want in order to make it become a beautiful image. Moreover, this process taught me to best watch reality. Every time I work on a picture and zoom it, I see beautiful small details I had not considered in the shooting part. It’s very common for me to understand little tricks from my own photos, and to then pay more attention on them during the following shootings. In my pictures I always work on the tones in a very obsessive way. Colors and lights are essential for me as they are the only way to make me achieve the mood I want the photo spreads. It takes a while for me to achieve the perfect tone I had in mind for that picture. But it’s very important to understand when it’s enough. Overdone photos are the worst ones. There’s always a moment in which your photo says “please, stop!”, and you should feel it.
What’s the story behind this photo?
I took this photo of beautiful Susanna while we were visiting a stunning old palace in Rome. While other models and photographers were around taking pictures of the place, I stopped in front of that nice statue you see in the picture. I stood in front of it in order to understand how I could take advantage of that object. There was a beautiful natural light coming from the window just behind the sculpture. I saw that the space between the arm and the body of the statue gave rise to a sort of hole. In that moment it came to my mind the Idea of making that detail the main point of attraction. But it’s not possible for me to explain how this idea flowed. I just needed something to pass through that space and the first thing I thought to, was obviously hair. It’s something I really love in photography, because hair can really transform depending on how the light works on it. I fortunately had a beautiful long haired model like Susanna in front of me and so I asked her to come closer to the statue. I braided her hair so that everything was ready for the shooting. After that, it’s been just about asking Susanna to satisfy the idea I wanted to spread through the pose. I have put the braid throughout the hole and I asked her to look at the magnificent vault above our heads. It hasn’t been easy for her as the statue had a wide low base and it was not possible standing really close to it. As I previously said, the amazing thing of photography is that you sometimes discover in the editing part some details you had simply ignored during the shooting. While I was working on the photo, two days after I got it, I noticed that the statue itself had a braid. It’s weird how much fortune can affect everything we do in life. The only thing we have to do is being positive and receptive to signals.
To see more of her beautiful photos, follow Miriana Pinna on 500px and Instagram.
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