Written by Monica Camozzi
Despite his two degrees – bachelor’s and master’s – in architecture, fate had decided that Nicola D’Orta would be a photographer. Firstly, by giving him a father with a passion for photography and making him come across his first analogue camera at the age of 10.
Secondly, he won a scholarship in Venice to attend a photography course while working as an architect.
So, despite working at a restorative studio, further specialisation and attending IED, something decided that Nicola would produce wonderful portraits with the flavour of short films.
In his example, we can fully speak of ‘blink’, that factor that strikes you to the heart in the space of a blink of an eye, that ‘brings in’ a three-dimensional alchemy dense with breath, longing, a thread of metaphysical melancholy.
Black and white all the time?
It’s an imprinting, I used to steal my father’s camera, walk around taking pictures and develop them in the darkroom but to process colour was too difficult in those days. It required many temperature variations and I had built the water tank in my parents’ garage…so I got into black and white and never left it.
Your photos are a dive into the depths of experience, a kind of emotional metaverse. How do you create it?
First of all, I photograph who I know.
I try to tell the story of who is in front of me by trying to understand who you are, what you do and why you need that image.
The first stage of connection is mutual trust: you are relying on me to express a world, I am relying on you for your potential to tell a story. I continue to study light and cultivate that emotional part of the relationship with the photographed subject, of choosing a location. Also, my sets are open, I bring wine, I chat, I study light.
Is the three-dimensionality of your images a consequence?
In analogue I physically engrave a film, remove or leave space. Digital records with a sensor on a single plane: that’s already a huge difference. I don’t want to be a super nerd, but I have always found a difference when I go to print or have the film in my hand. But now, with AI, in the near future our digital will become film and artificial intelligence the dominant modus operandi…
I have a feeling you’re not going to use AI….
No, I think it’s a great opportunity for all those who love craftsmanship because so many companies will follow the direction of technological novelty but… I think that after this AI binge they will get fed up with seeing so many similar images and will want to try the thrill of the ‘old’ again.
In any case, artificial intelligence doesn’t worry me at all: it’s an art form like many others, I like this openness towards an art that is growing but I also see great opportunities for artisans who will remain focused on different value production.
Will the way of storytelling change?
Think about how the approach to souvenir photography has changed. We used to take a trip and take a handful of photos because the film cost money and printing took time and money. Today we don’t even have time to go and review the ocean of photos taken instantly, with the speed of consumerism also invading the photographic experience. But the only way to give a photo a deep remembrance value is still to print it…
80% of people can no longer write in cursive, calligraphy and hand drawing have been forgotten. That is why craftsmanship has enormous potential. The emotional component of the shoot, the teamwork, the sharing of training experiences, the construction and processing of a set are all aspects that make that parenthesis unique. And that bring growth to a human being. Sure, AI in two seconds took your portrait….
Are greys your chromatic sea of choice?
Greys are my colour expanded into shades, I bring every chromatic frequency back to grey in its infinite scale.
My preview in the camera is always black and white, I take a good look at the image, I add just the right amount of light and shadow in the frame… when I started out I was shooting instinctively, I deepened my knowledge of photography after 3, 4 years. One day a guy wrote to me “you look like Peter Lidbergh” and I didn’t know who he was! Then I went to see him and…today he embodies my dream. I would like to take pictures similar to his campaigns for Armani. I am becoming more and more acculturated, I have a thirst to assimilate, to know, to study.
Melancholy as an intended register of expression or… does it come naturally to you?
It is as if I have a duplicate, in life I am a joyful and smiling person, on the artistic side I come up with these nostalgic photos with a neutral expression…
But Giorgia was smiling! How was the meeting with her?
The anecdote with Giorgia was beautiful. It was before Christmas in Rome, she needed photos and it was an honour for me to take them. I arrived in the Eur area with the crew and realised that the camera wouldn’t turn on because the batteries were missing. We waited 20 minutes for them to bring them to me but it was worth it, she used that shoot and published a lot. I never post subjects smiling but she was so natural….
