Welcome to the Slices of Time Street Photography podcast. Episode 15 already! Today, I’m joined by Nicola Fioravanti, an Italian street photographer based in Paris, France. I can’t help but describe his photos as abstract yet still very human and warm.
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- Website: https://www.nicolafioravanti.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hacklabo/
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Timestamps of this episode with Nicola Fioravanti
00:00 Introduction to Nicola Fioravanti
02:55 Cultural Perceptions of Color in Photography
05:45 The Art of Timing in Street Photography
08:54 Living Off Street Photography: Challenges and Opportunities
11:47 The Importance of Projects in Photography
14:49 Exploring Self Through Photography
17:50 Planning vs. Spontaneity in Street Photography
20:42 Balancing Commercial Work and Artistic Expression
24:00 Capturing Authentic Moments in Fashion Photography
34:20 Exploring Urban Cycling and Fashion
39:45 The Interplay of Light and Silence in Photography
44:24 Rhythm and Patience in Street Photography
51:44 The Story Behind the Photograph
57:21 Navigating Social Media as a Photographer
Thank you for listening to this conversation with Nicola. Don’t forget to subscribe to be updated about upcoming episodes. Reach out via social media if you want to share any questions or ideas.
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Podcast Transcript
Frederic Paulussen (00:00)
Welcome to the slice of time street photography podcast. Episode 15 already. Today I’m joined by Nicola Fioraventi, an Italian street photographer based in Paris in France, if I’m correct. And I can’t help but describe his photos as abstract but still very human and warm feeling. So hey Nicola, how are you today? And ⁓ could you maybe introduce yourself?
Nicola Fioravanti (00:12)
Yes.
Yes, thank you so much Fred for the invitation. So I’m much more, I would say, colorist rather than a street photographer today. I’m based in Paris. And when I’m saying that I’m much more colorist, that ⁓ my work really is mainly on street photography, but it’s a constant exploration of the potential of colors in the urban environment.
So basically I’m a colorist ⁓ living in this beautiful city, which is Paris, and traveling a lot and trying to explore really the different culture of colors, I would say, in Europe and in Morocco especially.
Frederic Paulussen (01:17)
Yeah, and do you find a lot of differences in those, like usage of colors or like how does that, ⁓ those cultural differences go?
Nicola Fioravanti (01:29)
Yes, basically what I’m interested in is that each culture has a different perception of color and they use the colors in a completely different way. So basically, for example, here in Paris, you have some basic colors, ⁓ very delicate colors, you can see in the city.
Frederic Paulussen (01:57)
Mm-hmm.
Nicola Fioravanti (01:59)
and they are just perfect within the relationship with the sky, with the blue of the sky, which is never a kind of deep blue, it’s just like always a delicate blue and all the tones are really warm, you have a very long golden light and so here is everything is
Frederic Paulussen (02:15)
Mm-hmm.
Nicola Fioravanti (02:28)
is truly poetic and delicate, just like Paris. the same time, for example, in Morocco, that’s a country I know quite well. My wife is Moroccan. I have a deep link with this kind of culture. It’s completely different because the light is very intense. It’s very, very warm. And even if you don’t have a ⁓ so long…
Frederic Paulussen (02:32)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (02:55)
time span where you can work in color because actually in Morocco you can have more or less two hours and enough where you can shoot with the best light conditions. In Paris you can shoot for about four hours because the light keeps to stay longer and longer while in Morocco you have less time in order to do that.
Frederic Paulussen (03:07)
Hmm. Okay.
Nicola Fioravanti (03:23)
At the same time, perception of the way in which color is lived is completely different because here is a kind of background of the city, while in Morocco is the subject. And it’s even the subject for the people there. So basically it’s a completely different way of living and truly living with colors. And if you’re a colorist like me,
It’s just heaven in the earth, you know.
Frederic Paulussen (03:55)
Okay,
yeah. Yeah, I noticed you went to Morocco quite often because you have several projects there. But it makes sense. And I was going to ask like, what’s your connection to the country? But it makes sense, of course, if your wife is from there. ⁓ Totally makes sense. Because there’s quite a lot of ⁓ work indeed in Morocco. And it feels like you have like this…
all these ⁓ series around color of course and if now that you mentioned like you have the Normandy series and the Morocco series and the colors do feel like softer or like a bit more saturated between those two. And so you were mentioning about like you have only like two hours in Morocco per day and like four hours in… Do you have like a specific moment of the day that you prefer to go out then or?
Nicola Fioravanti (04:47)
It’s basically
in Morocco or you know if you go very early in the morning there is basically no one. So if you wake up at five o’clock in the morning, I did some time just to check if there was any kind of human presence and there is really nobody. So you can walk in the Medina but you don’t find the human presence which is always quite important for me. It’s not…
Frederic Paulussen (05:16)
Hmm.
Nicola Fioravanti (05:16)
Mandatory, mean, I’ve taken some of my best shots without people, but at the same time, if there is someone, you know, it gives another kind of life in the photo. I do love to have someone, if it’s possible. And also I do love the play of waiting the right subject, you know, with the right color.
Frederic Paulussen (05:29)
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (05:44)
in Morocco with the right hijab if we’re speaking about a woman, an old woman for example, know, or the right hair colors, you know, that’s actually street photography at its very best. So if you go out very early in Morocco, there is almost no one and you have…
to go out in the late afternoon because at the same time if the light is very intense you know you can’t find the right colors. Basically notice that many unexperienced street photographers they are just out all the day long so when it’s the good time to shoot they don’t have energy at all you know so basically I’m relaxing all the day long when I’m doing some
important work, perhaps I’m traveling during the first hours of the day, okay, and then when it’s late afternoon I go out. So when I go out, I’m working until really the last light. So that’s how I do, you know, basically it’s different because I’m doing professionally.
Frederic Paulussen (06:54)
Okay.
Thank you.
Nicola Fioravanti (07:08)
So if you are a professional and you need to deliver something, ⁓ it’s done in a different way. But I’m not taking the camera all the time. when I have to work, I just go out with full focus. And we go out, for example, at five o’clock if we are in the spring in Morocco or six, even six o’clock.
and staying until 8 o’clock with the golden light and then I will usually stay one hour and a half after the sunset in order to play with the blue light and in order to play with some artificial light. I don’t love so much artificial light. ⁓ I don’t use flash at all because I love too much natural light to…
Frederic Paulussen (08:02)
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (08:05)
to use a flash. And basically I’m trying to play with the material I’m getting when you are walking in the situation you are facing.
Frederic Paulussen (08:19)
Yeah, okay. So you really have like your time of day ⁓ that you favor and you mentioned like you do this professionally so there’s like because for a lot of people I find street photography is more like ⁓ like something like
To live off it, there’s very few chances, I think. For lot of people, it’s just like, if there’s one exhibition once every three years, let’s say that’s already a lot. So how does that work for you to live off purely of street photography?
Nicola Fioravanti (08:54)
Well, actually,
you know, the problem is that I think that many people, do think that, you know, going out searching for the best shot, it’s photography, which is not at all, you know. So you are basically, you need to work on project and you need to at the same time here in France, it’s not easy at all.
but at the same time you have many opportunities. You have some art residencies where you can get some money and you can work on your project. At the same time you can do some corporate things or some commercial things, just like everyone. But at the same time, if you are working on a project…
Frederic Paulussen (09:43)
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (09:53)
you have the chance to earn money with your project. Basically, that’s the point. The problem is that almost everyone doesn’t understand it. They basically go out, they see, okay, I’m trying to get the best shot, without finding any kind of narration, and actually without having a project.
which surprised me really a lot all the time, you know, because maybe there are some amazing photographers, they have a huge quantity of single photos, but they don’t think about, you know, any kind of project. And in this kind of way, I do think that they are not growing well at all, you know, because at the end they don’t have ⁓ nothing, you know.
So they are basically maybe sending the photos to some competition. If they earn 1,000 euro it’s okay, but it’s just one shot. No, it’s not that they are pursuing something and they really want. And that’s the problem. I mean, that’s even the same situation with the exhibition. I’m lucky because I have lots of exhibition all the time.
Frederic Paulussen (10:56)
Yeah. Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (11:18)
But when I came here in Paris, I did start with a project with cycling, you know? That is a huge success here in France. ⁓ I mean, ⁓ I didn’t go here in Paris saying, okay, I’m an artist, I’m a street photographer, you know, I can live with this, you know?
Frederic Paulussen (11:26)
Yes
Nicola Fioravanti (11:47)
I do need to find some ways to get known here. And then I got the Festival Planches Contacte, which is ⁓ one of the most important festivals here in France. It’s actually the second one after
les rencontres D’Arles. And it’s very, important. And that gave me a lot of opportunities. So basically, I do think that… ⁓
If you really what you are doing, you need to find some way to get the money. It’s not easy, it’s very difficult, but at the same time it’s possible.
Frederic Paulussen (12:29)
Yeah, and it sounds to me, you mentioned this at the start of your explanation now, that you’re really thinking into series, you’re not really… Single shots are less your thing or your medium? So is that more… I’m not sure if you sell prints. ⁓ Is it more like you like to prefer this entire series because of the narrative you can explain or…
Nicola Fioravanti (12:56)
Yes,
actually, you know, I do think that if you are working on a project, you’re working on yourself. And that’s the goal for when you’re doing photography, you know, basically is a kind of self exploration. know, you are searching. You are trying to understand yourself by shooting photos. So that’s, you know.
Frederic Paulussen (13:03)
Yeah
Nicola Fioravanti (13:24)
and your relationship with things, your relationship with beauty, your relationship with wonder, your relationship with silence, your relationship with time. You are basically really exploring your connection with everything, you know, is around you. And when you are, for example, exploring something as a project, you are questioning yourself, you know. For example, when I started the Moroccan project,
The first time I went there, I didn’t know that it was with the woman I would have married after some years, you know, at same time. So at the same time, the project evolved because basically first time I went there, I was so fascinated by the colors, by the power and the joy of the Moroccan people.
Nowadays, I think that I’m exploring much more than her memories at the same time, you know. So basically it’s an evolving project, you know, and at the same time I’m getting more and more Moroccan. So I do understand many things I didn’t understand before. And I’m evolving in some way, you know, that’s just
Frederic Paulussen (14:28)
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (14:49)
because of projects, you because you’re trying really to understand better plays, but you can do a project about anything you want, you know. At the same time, this is also asking you to go out and maybe finding the good shot that you are missing or, you know, thinking about the series a lot.
So there is quite a lot of thinking before going out to shoot. At the same time, when you are out and you’re shooting, I’m shooting what I feel. I don’t have a plan at all, you know? But at the same time, when you are saying, okay, I wouldn’t need something ⁓ about this or something about that, you know, that’s basically a different kind of approach.
And I do find that this is helping you to find a little bit more about yourself. And that’s the main goal of shooting. Because if not, you are working in a bank or finance, but I don’t care at all. I’m not interested in making money.
Frederic Paulussen (16:09)
Yeah, yeah. No…
We all need it, but yeah, it’s not often the most fun part of everything. And I like how you said that it’s kind of like exploring yourself. To me, that’s something… I’m exploring how it’s exploring myself the past few months, so I’m not quite there yet. But you mentioned like… ⁓ It was kind of like you…
either work on a project and you have like a planned out like place you want to go or something and you also like just go out and meander and see where you end up or is it like always kind of like more or less planned out or how do I…
Nicola Fioravanti (16:56)
No, I mean, for example, with the Sentimental Atlas, with the project from Morocco, there, due to the fact that I have several exhibitions, know, and one is ongoing, which is very important because it’s a national exhibition, it’s the first exhibition that the state of Italy is giving officially to Morocco.
So basically, when for example you have a project that you started and you went there already four times and I have a second exhibition in Morocco in December in another national museum in Morocco and you speak with your curator, you know, in my case that’s a wonderful curator, Dani Labrignone, he’s a very well-known Italian…
curator and basically I gave her, for example, more or less ⁓ 500 photos to choose from. She then chose 40 photos for the first exhibition and then she divided all some categories, you know. So basically the exhibition is also ⁓ a travel in Morocco. So you’re traveling in two ways, you know, during the exhibition.
So basically, for example, when I will go this summer again in Morocco, I will need to add some photos, you know, in some places I never went there, or maybe add some kind of sea photos or photos about modern architecture in Morocco, for example. So I do have a plan of things I would love to do. I don’t know what I will produce, no idea.
Frederic Paulussen (18:47)
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (18:48)
because I’m saying for example, okay, I need to go to that city, I don’t know, I need to go a little bit more in that city because I liked it a lot. I need to go there because I have the confidence that that city will give me some shots. For example, Casablanca is always giving me a lot of chances. So basically, I’m planning before and then I will go there.
But there is a little plan before you know, but because you need to add some photos, because you have some important exhibition and I mean, there is always a plan if you’re doing it professionally. I do think there’s a little difference, you know, between doing in kind of, you know, for yourself and just going out on Sunday and see if you are getting something or not. But if you are doing as your job.
need to have some plan because that’s the beauty of doing this kind of project.
Frederic Paulussen (19:48)
Of course. Yeah.
Correct. Yeah. Yeah, I do photography professionally, but it’s like corporate headshots and events. So it’s different. And for me, street photography is like, let’s say a creative outlet or hobby, or it’s like, there’s less ⁓ thing that have to be. So I don’t have to produce anything. But to me, the question then, because for me, it’s like the…
Nicola Fioravanti (20:11)
Yeah.
Frederic Paulussen (20:16)
it’s the inspiration for my corporate work. How do you keep it interesting and fresh to yourself? Because in the end it turns out to be a job then. And I can imagine sometimes everyone has with their job perhaps that it’s like, today. Does that happen to you? are you like, do you have ways around it or?
Nicola Fioravanti (20:42)
No, basically I know it’s hard, doesn’t make me annoyed, know, it’s never. Basically, I feel the stress sometimes. I’m little bit stressed, you know, if I need really to produce something. For example, in Deauville last year during the art residencies, you know.
It was an amazing situation where you could work with some of the best photographers in the world, you know, and in a very short timeline because basically we could stay there almost for one month. I had something to do and I couldn’t stay there all the time and it was raining all the time, which is very difficult for a colorist.
And so basically the series was produced in more or less 12 days or something like this, you know. And so you go out and you know that maybe if it’s sunny and there’s a beautiful light, you need to get something, you know. So this is stressing you a lot at the same time, you know.
I’m always happy when I’m shooting. know, it’s not a problem of saying, you know, I’ll just a kind of day job and I’m not enjoying it some days. I’m enjoying all the time. The only problem that maybe if you need really to deliver something, you know, all the time can be really stressful because it’s completely aleatory. I mean, you go out and you don’t know what you can get.
But you know that at the end of the day you should get something interesting.
Frederic Paulussen (22:43)
Yeah,
you usually know that you can deliver something, as you said, sometimes you have rain or the day isn’t there.
Nicola Fioravanti (22:52)
Yes, you don’t know. At the same time, know,
last year we had to deliver the series, you know, you have no chance. So, I mean, even if it was raining, I was out with my parapluie in French. don’t know how to say it in English. Yes, sorry. Because, you know, the problem with French language is that when you speak all the time in French, you are losing a lot of English.
Frederic Paulussen (23:12)
Umbrella, yeah.
Yeah, I
know. I have to say, like, I speak a lot of English as well. I speak a lot of English, so I kind of lose my Dutch sometimes. Or sometimes it’s just easier to say the English word instead of the Dutch word. So, but yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (23:23)
Thank
Okay.
Yeah, for me it’s with
French, know, because basically I’m speaking French all the time. So, you know, that’s the problem. But so basically, you know, you I went out in order to try to create something, to get to have something, even if it was really heavy raining, you know, so basically it’s a different approach. But I do think that
Frederic Paulussen (23:36)
Yeah, I can imagine,
Nicola Fioravanti (24:00)
This is something that drives you to some important places for you at the same time. I do find it absolutely perfect, just like you, if you have a corporate, you do corporate commercial, this kind of things, and then you say, I do want to have time for myself and to grow up ⁓ and to…
artistically and to find something that you would love, even to not to be stressed in order to get, okay, I need to get that kind of shot, you know, just like all the time during the week. But at the same time, I think that if someone takes it very seriously, you know, it can be very exciting in some way, you know. So basically that’s what I’m doing. I don’t say I don’t…
do anything commercial because it would be false. At the same time, I’m completely focused on non-commercial things. I don’t even care. In fact, nobody sees my commercial things. Basically, I’m not publishing at all. So I don’t care and I’m doing professionally, just like every professional, but I really don’t care at all.
Frederic Paulussen (25:12)
I am.
No, I get that, But you did have a series of the… What was it? The Dubai Modest Fashion Week? Was that a commercial job? Because it’s like…
Nicola Fioravanti (25:33)
Yes.
Yes, it a commercial
job, was an assignment and I did choose to actually shoot the backstage because I found it much more interesting. At the same time, with fashion it’s very… even if I did something in fashion it’s very very complex because if you are not in that kind of world, you know, it’s difficult to understand sometimes.
I mean, I love Paul Smith, the fashion designer, but for example, when I’m seeing something from Balenciaga for me, it’s incredibly ugly. You know, I can’t understand why people, you know, love these kind of things. So, you know, basically I, even if I have some requests from fashion designers, you know, I try to let them go.
because I don’t think I’m really the right person for this kind of things. While I was there, was an assignment and I was enjoying a lot because there we had, for example, the series was produced in… ⁓
Frederic Paulussen (26:41)
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (26:54)
five years ago more or less, something like that. And it was shooting in five hours. So it was five hours of shooting.
Frederic Paulussen (27:02)
Okay.
So everything
was within a few hours. Okay cool. did like… Because it does still feel like your street photography work to me. Does your street work influence your commercial work like this? ⁓
Nicola Fioravanti (27:23)
All the time, all the time,
know, all the time, because at the end, I think as a street photographer. So my thinking is always, you know, the thinking of a street photographer. So even if on the other project with the Tomavello with the cycling project, you know, that’s where, which is the most, the more commercial things I’m doing, you know, because that’s open many
Frederic Paulussen (27:33)
Hmm.
Yeah, I was gonna ask you, yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (27:55)
contacts in the second world, you know, and I’m always thinking, you know, even if that is a kind of street portraits and when I’m taking some portraits of cyclists, I do have sometimes, you know, just two minutes, nothing more. I did one shoot
Frederic Paulussen (28:16)
Okay so these
are models you post for the femmes a velo
Nicola Fioravanti (28:19)
They are basically all cyclists.
So they are not professional cyclists, I mean, are all really passionate cyclists in Paris. we never thought about searching some models, beautiful models and saying to them, okay, please take one.
bike and I would take a shot with you know that’s why Femmes a Velo got a very very important you know ⁓ community approval because actually you know it’s the second community you know of Paris basically that’s the subject the woman you know that they are
really making ⁓ the cycling movement in Paris. That’s it, you know. But for example, with Palma Velo, that is managed completely by the founder, ⁓ who is Eva Corgioli, is a big friend of mine, another Italian here in Paris, and cycling passionate. And actually, you know, she asked the most important women in cycling here in Paris.
would you love to be in this kind of project? And they said, okay, that’s fine. But sometimes, for example, Laurianne that’s ⁓ the girl who was ⁓ in the cover of the first exhibition, à la mairie du septieme, arrondissement, ⁓ I had just, I think, 20 seconds with her, almost nothing.
Frederic Paulussen (30:14)
wow,
okay.
Nicola Fioravanti (30:14)
So I took 14 photos and that’s it. But the girl who lasted longer was, I think, five minutes. basically, you need ⁓ to think just like a street photographer because you see something, you see some potential walls, for example.
Frederic Paulussen (30:28)
Also not too long, yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (30:43)
you see some potential elements in the background, you know, and then you’re just trying to take the photos as natural as possible. You know, so basically I never say to the models, okay, look at there.
Frederic Paulussen (30:56)
Yeah. Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (31:05)
the other side, you know, just be natural, look at me or look where you want. And we’ll try to catch at the moment.
Frederic Paulussen (31:10)
Yeah, and
because there’s there’s like, if Alexane, it’s like a very nice photo with like the light falling in. It’s really like, it looks really thoughts well thought out. But same time, it also feels like very street because it’s like those are the spots we street photographers look for. And like, did you know those spots in advance or was it more like, okay, we’re here, there looks good.
Nicola Fioravanti (31:34)
No, I asked
every cyclist to give me their favorite place. So basically, for example, Laurianne, she told me, I love the 11th arrondissement because my life is there. So I went to where she asked. I didn’t know that…
I know the 11 arrondissement but didn’t know exactly the spot she wanted. And at the same time, when I go there, I say, okay, maybe it doesn’t work, you know? And so I’m just walking a little bit with the cyclist to find some good spot, you know? But I never planned in advance, you know?
So basically I’m going there, trying to see some potential, you know, and I just love it in the way, it’s a very free way of working, you know, not planning anything in advance because I don’t have even flash. So I don’t know nothing before, you know, I go there because I wanted all the cyclists to have a connection with the place in some way. Okay. So maybe for example, you know, for example,
Frederic Paulussen (32:37)
Yeah, correct Tim.
Nicola Fioravanti (32:54)
Angèle, she loved Bois de Boulogne, that’s the last photos of the series, and because she loves ⁓ gravel cycling, and she told me I really want to be in a little bit natural situation. So I told myself, in this kind of natural background, I can work just with really, really less light.
So I asked her to come at maybe 8 o’clock, really near the sunset, because I imagined myself, if I have intense light, that doesn’t work at all, because I want this kind fairy situation in the picture. So basically, that’s the point. You think as a street photographer…
and without planning anything, you know, Asman, at the same time you want the cyclists to be… ⁓ to feel well in this kind of place, you know. Don’t put someone who loves nature, loves gravel cycling, at La Défense, where you have the skyscraper, the huge, you know, urban…
Frederic Paulussen (34:02)
Yeah, to have a terrible… Yes, there’s lots.
Nicola Fioravanti (34:20)
situation which is not connected to the cyclist at all.
Frederic Paulussen (34:22)
Yeah.
No, it makes total sense. It also gives a lot of different backgrounds which is nice because you have this… with Alexane it’s like a gritty kind of… don’t know, like tunnel or wall at least and you have this very colorful graffitti walls and then of course you have the nature ones. Exactly, yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (34:44)
It’s also an exploration of the city, because at the same time,
you do have an exploration about how the cyclists are, what the cyclists are wearing today. It’s a little bit fashion. At the same time, you see how the city is changing because of cycling, because here in Paris, there is a really, we call it vélorution.
a kind of revolution with cycling. With Helsinki, are the two cities that are investing more in cycling in all the world. So basically there’s a huge cycling revolution here. And so basically you see how the city is developing thanks to cycling. At the same time, you see…
Frederic Paulussen (35:15)
Okay, yeah
Nicola Fioravanti (35:39)
how the women are, what the women are wearing, how is changing their kind of equipment, everyday equipment, because every cyclist, you you have seen in the project, she uses, she’s using her bike all the day, each day of the year, you know. So basically everyone is really, really passionate and they are changing, they have their favorite brands.
They are very passionate about their bike. So there’s a story, know, a kind of relationship between their bike and the owner of the bike. So that’s really, really very interesting. At the same time, you see how Paris is developing and discovering new places, new graffiti, new artworks.
you know, it’s a kind of special connection with the city.
Frederic Paulussen (36:40)
Yeah, it’s a really strong series I find. And so you mentioned with nature in the background especially that you’re like, you think about like, okay, I can have it more darker, we can have it at that time of day. Do you get a lot of your inspiration from other photographers or is it just like experience or like a mix of course of those two? ⁓
Nicola Fioravanti (37:05)
I don’t think, you know, actually I have lot of inspiration from other photographers, to be honest. It’s much more from other things. I do think that I do learn more with architecture, with graphic design, rather than photography. Because I have some photographers I love, of course, just like everyone, you know.
Frederic Paulussen (37:18)
Okay, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Nicola Fioravanti (37:35)
my favorite photographers. At the same time, I do find a lot of repetition today. So basically, because they are basically, you know, try to copy things. So it’s not any more a kind of exploration, you know, ⁓ of the photographer itself. And I do find that…
Today we have an excellent photographers. I do find that there are lot of photos, less photography than before maybe, you know, at the same time.
Frederic Paulussen (38:17)
Yeah, I can see what you’re trying to say. Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (38:19)
you know,
in some way. But if I’m not inspired, you know, I’m not trying to, okay, I just grab a book about my favorite photographer and we’ll get some ideas. It’s never like this, you know. I prefer to look at the graphic design or a kind of light, because I do think that the inspiration at least for me comes from light and silence. So…
Basically, you know for me it’s the interplay between you know from silence to light from light to silence. That’s the way When I’m shooting, you know, I’m trying to find the the moment of silence and If I see a beautiful architecture a beautiful wall a beautiful light That’s the inspiration. Inspiration comes from light
At least for me, maybe for others too, but at the same time, I do search the light more than other things. If I have a bad day, just like everyone, I don’t say, okay, go to a bookshop and to buy some new photography books, never. I just focus on the light, light and asking light.
Frederic Paulussen (39:19)
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (39:45)
why I’m not able to catch you in the proper way today, you know? Why it’s so difficult today to discover this kind of wonder. And if I’m able to catch the light, but I’m not able to get to the silence, I do ask the silence, ask silence why you are so difficult today, you know? That’s a kind of play, you know, with this kind of true.
Frederic Paulussen (40:09)
Good.
Nicola Fioravanti (40:14)
elements which I do think are the most important elements in my photography, light and silence.
Frederic Paulussen (40:20)
Yeah.
And to me that’s like, I don’t see like if you, you’re based in Paris, if you ask me to describe Paris, silence is not the first or like top 10 words that comes to me. it’s…
Nicola Fioravanti (40:36)
Yes.
Frederic Paulussen (40:40)
Is it hard for you to find the silence in the city or is it more accessible than we think?
Nicola Fioravanti (40:47)
No, no, because it’s silence within you. So basically, it’s impossible to find silence in Paris. You silence, mean, where no one is speaking, which is something I love because I love cities where people are talking and are crying and they are doing many things. You know, I don’t like at all Berlin, for example, you know, which everybody is speaking at all. You know, so I…
Frederic Paulussen (40:50)
Okay.
Yeah.
I Berlin,
yeah, it’s totally different cities.
Nicola Fioravanti (41:18)
Yes, know, it could
be different, you know, situation. But basically, you know, you should find your silence. I mean, I do think that good photography is when you see a photo and you are in silence and you can’t speak. And if you can’t speak for two seconds, it is a good photo. It is a good photo. If you can’t speak for five seconds, it’s a very good photo.
And if you can’t speak for one minute, it’s an extraordinary photo. So basically I judge my photos on the silence I do need before speaking. If it’s something that keeps me in the photos, on the photos, it works. And there is a kind of…
really
How would I say, is a kind of search of this kind of moment of silence when you can have hundreds of people talking, moving around, but maybe you find the right light spot, know, with a good subject and you have a connection with that kind of subject, that moment, know, which is unique. It will fade in one millisecond, you know.
And this is a little time of silence. And I do find that, and I do hope also, that in my photography there is a kind of interplay from silence to light, from light to silence, you know.
Frederic Paulussen (43:06)
Yeah, no, it’s, now you mentioned it’s like all your photos feel, ⁓ feel silent. Yeah, it’s hard to explain it differently, but it’s like you, it’s not too busy. It’s very calming. It’s very, ⁓ don’t think comfortable is the right word, but it’s just like a.
a quietness to it indeed, yeah. it’s now that you mentioned it, find more. And it’s also funny that you mentioned like how you said like if you’re quiet for one second, for five seconds, for 10 minutes or for one minute, it’s now that you mentioned it’s like I do that subconsciously, yeah. it’s if I, and I should be more conscious of it. Like if I see someone else’s work and it’s like.
How long am I silent and taking it in to appreciate how good it is? Yeah. So I like that. That’s a good insight. And so you mentioned like waiting for the right subject. Are you more of a, like it’s the Fisher and the hunter kind thing. Are you like a patient person for it or are you like more or less constantly on the move?
Nicola Fioravanti (44:24)
I do wait about five minutes if I do think that is a potential great photo. Never more. Because if nothing is coming, you know, for me it means that someone else is giving you something better around the corner. So I’m not the guy who think, okay, this is going to be…
Frederic Paulussen (44:31)
Okay.
Okay.
Nicola Fioravanti (44:54)
amazing photo and I’m staying there 40 minutes maximum 5 minutes you know that’s how I do think that you have also to keep a kind of rhythm that is something really central and I do think that is ⁓ really underrated as a concept because when you go there and you go out and you need to do
Frederic Paulussen (45:02)
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (45:24)
street photography, you need to be in the same rhythm with the city. If not, you know, you are not getting the right rhythm. You have a rhythm with the city, you have to be in tune with the city and in tune with yourself. But basically, if you don’t shoot for about three hours, then can be
Frederic Paulussen (45:32)
Okay, hell.
Nicola Fioravanti (45:53)
Very difficult to take the perfect shot after three hours. Okay. So basically I’m trying to keep a kind of rhythm, you know? So I also should take some photos. I do think they are maybe a little bit more than mediocre. So, you know, I’m not just taking what I think in your case.
Frederic Paulussen (45:57)
Yeah, true.
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (46:20)
this has to be the most beautiful photo in the world and if this is going to help me for the rhythm is okay
Frederic Paulussen (46:31)
Yeah, it’s kind of keeping the habit and like the reflex ⁓ ready.
Nicola Fioravanti (46:33)
You know,
exactly, you know, just like, you know, rhythm rhythm rhythm rhythm And then, you know, sometimes you discover good photos you have taken and you didn’t think, okay, it’s okay or not because I’m never looking back at the, at the screen, you know, I’ve just the screen completely blacked out when I’m working, you know, and I never look at the screen after, after the shoot, you know, so I’m just, I’m just
taking photos and then just looking at photos when I’m back home.
Frederic Paulussen (47:08)
Yeah, okay. And is it…
Nicola Fioravanti (47:10)
I’m a little
bit analog photographer. Even if I’m shooting digital, only digital, you know, and I also don’t crop. Never cropped any picture of mine.
Frederic Paulussen (47:16)
Yeah
Never. Okay, wow, that’s impressive.
That’s impressive.
Nicola Fioravanti (47:25)
So,
never cropped. I don’t crop at all. So basically, all my analogical friends are always telling me, you need to go to an analogical photographer because you are basically an analogical photographer working in digital.
Frederic Paulussen (47:46)
Yeah, and like, just curious, like, why don’t you then go to analog? it still the practicality? It’s too expensive, Okay.
Nicola Fioravanti (47:51)
It’s expensive just for this reason. And I don’t have Kodachrome.
If they are doing again Kodachrome, I think I could start doing something analogical, But today, the films, I don’t have the film I would have loved to work with, you know? Because I started photography when it was ⁓ already digital. So basically I don’t…
Frederic Paulussen (48:15)
care.
Nicola Fioravanti (48:21)
I any experience with analogical photography, if one day Kodak decides to give us back the Kodachrome, ⁓ I think I could switch at least a little bit with analogical photography.
Frederic Paulussen (48:39)
Okay, and is it like, do you edit your photos to look like the quality chrome stock or is it more?
Nicola Fioravanti (48:46)
No,
in fact, I don’t edit them almost at all. I’m completely unable to do good processing, you know. So basically I’m doing just two things. I’m putting profile colors in Adobe Vivid and then I’m making medium contours and that’s it. So ⁓ I did some YouTube videos showing the edit and with some friends of mine.
Frederic Paulussen (49:04)
Okay.
Nicola Fioravanti (49:12)
And he was a little bit astonished because he told me, Nicola, you’re doing really nothing, you know? But because, you I do think that if you are really great in editing photos, you know, can do amazing things. But if you don’t have this kind of talent, just like me, that I’m really horrible in doing post-processing, you need to find the best photo before, you know? So basically, I’m doing almost nothing.
Frederic Paulussen (49:38)
Yeah!
Nicola Fioravanti (49:41)
I love a lot the colors that Canon cameras are giving to me. That’s why I’m really keen to use this kind of brand. I also did some tests with other brands, but the result doesn’t look as good as Canon with colors. At the same time, if you are…
very good in post-processing, can get a Nikon or a Sony camera or a Fuji film camera and getting exactly the same result, But you need to be able to use all this kind of color correction, these kind of things, know, completely unable to do these kind of things.
Frederic Paulussen (50:14)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Is it because you just don’t find it interesting? you don’t enjoy sitting at a computer?
Nicola Fioravanti (50:33)
Color grading is very difficult. mean, you need to have a lot of culture about colors, you know, and I do think it’s very difficult to do. I don’t think that I’m good enough to be a great color grader, know, basically. So I found a brand which gives me exactly the colors I love, you know, and I do add the contrast with the line curves.
And that’s it, know, basically. And if I’m doing something is only about the highlights, doing some contours, but really, really, really, very, very, very little things. You see my role, they are basically the same things about the original.
Frederic Paulussen (51:21)
Okay,
that’s cool. do you enjoy the process of picking the photos? Because you mentioned sometimes you just make photos to keep the rhythm in. So I’m sure you have a big catalog of photos. Is it a process you enjoy doing, going through them and saying, okay, these two work together? ⁓
Nicola Fioravanti (51:44)
Yes, yes, I love
it. Basically, you know, because there you are also developing a kind of storytelling when even if my photos, you know, don’t contain stories, I mean, they are a kind of basically they are made up of shapes, colors, then you can find your story. mean, you know, everyone is creating stories. ⁓
when they look to photographs at the same time, I don’t think, okay, I’m doing this kind of photos because there is a story behind. Sometimes there are very incredible stories, just like the first photos of the Morocco Sentimental Atlas, because of this story of that cloud is absolutely amazing. I think that maybe the only time in the life that…
I can get this kind of amazing story because there, there is a reason why that photo opens the exhibition. And that I took, the reason is amazing because I took that photo in Errachidia we are near the desert in Morocco, in the east part of Morocco, really, really near the desert. And I took because there is this kind of single cloud, you know, exactly in the middle. That was the only reason I took.
Frederic Paulussen (53:09)
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (53:13)
be honest you know there was a perfect geometry I pulled myself ⁓ wow it’s very rare to see a single cloud ⁓ in the desert basically you know when you’re really very very close to the desert and that’s it then I published ⁓ in Instagram and I started getting a lot of comments and direct messages from people from El Hacidia
talking, okay, I’m really crying with your photo. And I told myself, but it’s not a kind of photo that makes you crying in any way. And I started asking why they were crying. And they told me, you know the story of that place? And I told them, no, not at all. Actually, it’s an open place that was a place
Frederic Paulussen (53:52)
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (54:10)
where the people could do the Salat al-Hadda, which is a very important prayer in the Muslim world, just like a little bit of the Easter in the Christian world. ⁓ And ⁓ they found someone dead in that kind of place, in the kind of open place, more or less six months before I took the photo.
Frederic Paulussen (54:39)
Yeah, okay.
Nicola Fioravanti (54:39)
And
so they repainted in white half of the wall because they told themselves, if I’m repainting with a kind of color of purity, it’s a kind of hopes that something beautiful will come again in this kind of place. And then the place was almost abandoned after the tragic event. When people…
⁓ found the photo, they thought that the soul of the dead one was the cloud asking them to come back.
And so I have photos of people coming back to that place for the first time because of the photo.
Frederic Paulussen (55:28)
That’s very nice, yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (55:29)
You know, so even so I took it without knowing anything about the accident. I took it without knowing anything about the story, why they repainted the wall in white, you know. I know it is not universal because it’s something that could be perceived just in Errachidia. It is not even the Morocco country, you know, because you have different cultural differences in Morocco.
as in every other country in the world. But at the same time, it’s a photo that contains something. If you see people that are sending you a snapshot when they are back to their place for the first time after the accident because of your photo.
I do not search for stories, but at the same time photos in some way contain some kind of stories, you know?
Frederic Paulussen (56:29)
Yeah, that’s a nice one. think it’s… It’s sometimes… It shows that sometimes you find these stories by accident, you don’t see them yourself maybe, then you publish it and all of a sudden it’s like, now it makes sense why I made this photo. So I think that’s a very, very interesting story, I think. that’s… It makes a lot of sense why you use it ⁓ as an opener for the exhibition then.
So yeah, I suggest we start wrapping it up before we get too long because I think we can keep going about editing and the lots of colors in your photos and the love for Morocco, I think for a long time. So thank you, Nicola, for your time and insights. There’s a lot of…
but a lot of insights I’ll remember for sure. If anyone wants to follow Nicola, I’ll put his links in the description, so like links to Instagram and the website. I’m not sure if you’re on any other social media. ⁓
Nicola Fioravanti (57:35)
And also on Instagram. basically, if you need to contact me, just send me an email. I don’t check it almost at all. I don’t like it. It’s an awful social network.
Frederic Paulussen (57:38)
you
Yeah.
I can’t agree, yeah. I have a ⁓ love-hate relationship with it and it’s like in periods so now I’m like… I think I’m getting back up to love but it’ll take some time again.
Nicola Fioravanti (58:03)
No, it’s not anymore
a place for photographers. It’s not anymore a place for a photographer. That’s the problem of Instagram, you know, because basically, you know, I do use it to be in connection with photographers and to meet beautiful people like you, you know, you can’t know if you’re in Paris and you’re in Belgium or in United States or Nigeria, know, this kind of Mexico.
Frederic Paulussen (58:06)
Sorry?
No.
Exactly, exactly, yeah.
Yeah.
Nicola Fioravanti (58:32)
But at the same time, it’s really horrible because, you know, this is not, ⁓ it’s completely useless. mean, you you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re showing up something that almost nobody sees. And the company behind is horrible, you know, and so it’s everything, you know, I really hate at the same time is the only platform. You don’t have any, you know,
Frederic Paulussen (58:59)
Yeah,
there is some good use for it, it takes a lot of like, you have to be like very intentional of this is what I want, this is what I’ll get. it’s not like, as you said, like it’s keeping contact with other photographers for me that that’s the value of it. Probably other platforms could use, could work as maybe as well, but it’s, yeah. But it’s like, you really have to be like, today I’m going to connect to.
Nicola Fioravanti (59:24)
You don’t
have the right people. Also because maybe you publish something because you want a feedback from some followers you really love or you do appreciate when you publish something that you say, okay, it’s…
mediocre, but as a huge success, you know, or I use it as a kind of feedback, know, feedback from the audience. That’s, know, the one use and to keep in connection with, you know, other photographers. At the same time, for example, I can’t publish all the photos because if I’m publishing everything, nobody goes to the exhibition.
Frederic Paulussen (59:58)
Okay.
Nicola Fioravanti (1:00:12)
So, for example, for the exhibition in Palermo, I had a lot of unpublished photos there, you know, so must be, you know, in some way, you need to the secret in some way, you know, before publishing everything. So I’m publishing really almost nothing. I don’t like using it. I hope that a good platform will come. I’m always signing. ⁓
Frederic Paulussen (1:00:27)
You have to tease people to hear. Exactly.
Nicola Fioravanti (1:00:42)
app for a new platform, know, in search, or the good one. The problem is really that ⁓ you don’t have photographers there. So I don’t need, you know, someone who say to me, okay, your photo is good because I…
I think I can’t judge already if it’s a good shot or not, but I do need some better photographers than me who can say, okay, Nicola, I like where you’re going, or I don’t like where you are going, or why you’re taking that kind of direction, why you are doing this, or that’s this kind of dialogue, which is very interesting to me.
and the problem is that you have other platforms but you don’t have photographers there.
Frederic Paulussen (1:01:39)
No, exactly. yeah, it’s a love-hate relationship for me. So thank you, Nicola. I’ll put the link for your Instagram anyway, sorry, and your website in the description.
So make sure to follow his fantastic work because it’s really beautiful. Also make sure to follow the podcast on your favorite platform or follow me for updates. My social media will also be in the show notes. All the info, all the links to everything mentioned will be in the show notes. So thank you Nicola and see you in the next episode.
Nicola Fioravanti (1:02:11)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.