Untitled from the series Eternal London, 2012-2013 (© Giacomo Brunelli,
Courtesy of the artist and The Photographers’ Gallery, London)
Brunelli was fortunate that the first few shots he took – one that included
the back of a policeman’s head, and another in front of a church – he liked.
“The idea was build the series around those images.â€
Although he enjoys capturing people unawares, Brunelli has to act fast. He
uses his father’s old Miranda
camera – a 35mm SLR manufactured in Japan during the 1950s and 60s –
which makes an incredible noise when the shutter is pressed. Once they
realise I’m there, they become my actors and it’s no longer spontaneous. I
only ever manage 2 or 3 pictures.â€
His father was an amateur photographer, and kept the Miranda in his desk
drawer. “I found it when I was 20. It was very heavy and a beautiful object
– I think I became interested in the object before I was interested in what
it could do.†Having graduated from university in Communications, he took a
six month course in photojournalism in Rome. “It was fascinating to me, this
traditional idea of photojournalism as on the streets, shooting in black and
white, with its very violent approach to the subject.â€
Untitled from the series Eternal London, 2012-2013 (© Giacomo Brunelli,
Courtesy of the artist and The Photographers’ Gallery, London)
Rather than heading for the frontline in remote parts of the world, he used
the skills he had acquired to track down animals, shooting them in a
noir-ish style that made them seem singled out or stopped in their tracks,
sometimes startled. “I grew up surrounded by animals in Perugia, a very
green part of Italy, so I used to look for animals, chasing them. I think
when I picked up a camera I just wanted to play with them, to have fun.
Probably that’s why I push the lens very close.â€
He has always shot in black and white, and always develops his own film: “I
like the whole process – changing the films and the smell of the chemicals
and the tactile dimension of the papers.†He has always done it at home too,
in the bathroom of whichever house he is living in. “I used to do it at
night – I’ve been doing it this way for 15 years – but now I have kids [6
and 2 and a half] I wait until they go out in the morning. I do it sitting
on the floor, it’s like going to the gym – very active exercise.â€
Untitled from the series Eternal London, 2012-2013 (© Giacomo Brunelli,
Courtesy of the artist and The Photographers’ Gallery, London)
Many have commented on his photography’s affinity to film noir, a comparison
he relishes: “Although I believe in the single shot, I think the narrative
that you build around the series of images essential to people understanding
your point of view. And I like the atmosphere of noir.â€
To would-be photographers of London, he offers this advice: “The background
has to reflect the emotion of the people represented in the photograph. And
take a lot of pictures. The dedication and passion for your craft are all
very well but sometime people forget to keep taking pictures. And walk. Out
on the streets, you learn a lot.”
Eternal London is at The Photographers’ Gallery, London until 27th April.
If you’re inspired by Giacomo Brunelli’s images of London, enter our
#EternalLondon Instagram competition, in association with The Photographers’
Gallery, to win a signed copy of Brunelli’s latest
photobook. There is one book up for grabs each week, plus the
shortlisted images will appear on Telephoto, the Telegraph’s online
photography section. The three winning images will be printed in the Review
section of the Saturday Telegraph.
All you need to do is make sure you hashtag your own evocative images
revealing London people and places with #EternalLondon,
#thephotographersgallery and #telegraphtelephoto.
The competition runs over the next three weeks and a panel of judges will pick
a weekly winner each Friday. Judges include:
Giacomo Brunelli
Lucy Davies, Commissioning Editor, The Telegraph
Ben Secher, Saturday Arts Editor, The Telegraph
Full terms and conditions for the competition can be read on our
dedicated competition page.
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