I started taking photos in my childhood. Sure, it was no more than a game: I used to play a lot with some old machines, checking how the shutter was opening and closing at different speed. Sometimes I was pretending to catch some photo even without the film inside the camera. My first reflex camera arrived when I was 17, a Yashica FX-3 Super 2000, fully manual. Photography was an expensive hobby for a penniless student: the main limitation was indeed the film development and the print. When I had the opportunity, I set up my own darkroom, finding some second hand equipment.

It seems to talk about centuries ago, but now with the introduction of digital equipment, photography has lost some of his charm, like waiting for the print out, the mystical aura of feeling like an alchemist while mixing the reagents in the tray to reveal the image. Every photogram was precious, you really needed to think about what and why to shoot in that moment.

What is photography for me? Well, it’s part of my way how to express myself, like music. It requires time and clear mind, things that are less and less available in our society.