Tell me a little about yourself. Where were you born and where are you now living.
I was born in Italy, in the province of Molise....a little place called Limosano. My parents immigrated to Canada. I was 18 months old when we arrived in Montreal, where I lived till I graduated from high school. I then relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia where I lived and worked as a photographer predominantly. I have since moved to Toronto.
How did you become interested in photography?
I became interested in photography as a child. There was an uncle who was quite enamored by cameras and photography. He let me use his camera sometimes and eventually bought me my first camera....I stuck it to my face and things were never the same again.
What part does photography play in your life now. Are you a professional? Full -time?
At this time in my life photography has taken a new place. It is no longer a means of earning a living. It is now an artistic pursuit alongside my sculpture. I feel that for me this is best. I have had a love, hate relationship with photography. There was a time in Vancouver working as a photographer, when I suddenly felt very uninspired by all the work I was doing and that the pressure of having to earn a living at it had somehow taken away from the pure pleasure, the very spirit of photography which had kept me inspired. The curiosity, the adventure of discovery, the way of looking at the world around me - these had suddenly vanished. This was a difficult time for me and in fact it resulted in my putting my cameras away for well over a year. I found other work and it was only after an accident, which had me hobbling for several months that I found myself inspired again to create images with my camera. Since then, I admit that often my camera has taken a back seat to other artistic pursuits; however, photography is a part of who I am and how I express myself. I don't worry so much anymore during the dry spells because I know that sooner or later I will feel the pull and the excitement of seeing and interpreting reality through the lens.
Why nudes? Why not some other subject? What makes the nude compelling for you?
The depiction of the human body is a subject which has enthralled painters, sculptors and photographers through time. As an artist, I have always been interested in the human form and its many interpretations. The nude is not the only subject I explore through photography. I have lived in several cities and traveled some. I find the newness of a place, the strangeness of new proportions, textures, colors and scents of the landscape and its people very inspiring and liberating. In nature, I find the exaltation of beauty. I discover and recognize forms, shapes, masses and textures which are of the earth and I find great joy in photographing the human figure as a part of the landscape, making the connection between our bodies and the planet. It is a marriage of the flesh with the elements of the earth. There is an unmistakable spirituality which is represented in this marriage of the flesh to the earth.
A co-contributor this month is Bob Smith. He is presently enrolled in a photography degree program at a local college. His instructors do not feel that there is any place for nudes in photographic education. In fact, one has repeatedly attacked him and his work. What do you think the role of figure photography is in photographic education?
I read somewhere that nude photography reflects the schizoid relationship that Western culture harbors with respect to the body. This could explain why certain instructors feel there is no place for nudes in photographic studies. I disagree. I believe that the role of figure photography in photographic education is unavoidable and essential. Nude photography is very prevalent in the history of photography. The human figure is a subject of study and discussion in all art forms, why should it then be excluded from photographic art? There are many pictorial approaches in interpreting the human body. The boundaries between the artistic, erotic and pornographic photograph tend to overlap, which makes it difficult to stamp a seal of artistic approval on certain erotic photographs. There is a distinction between pornographic and erotic photography and again between erotic and artistic. High heels, stockings, garter belts, feathers and flowing fabrics are props of the erotic nude. However, although not necessarily, these can easily cheapen the nude. It all depends on how it is portrayed...and this is where the fine line which distinguishes between artistic, erotic and pornographic is drawn....not in the subject itself, but in how the photographer sees and represents the body, what he chooses to show or not to show. It can really be very telling of the person who took the photograph. Michael Koetsle wrote that distance defines the artistic nude, closeness defines the erotic photo. Artistic nudes make no promises, erotic nudes make a few and pornographic works so completely fulfill them that viewers may find them offensive rather than exciting. I believe that in my work there is a tendency to reduce the body to its basic form - heads are often cropped, faces are turned away or hidden, the body is depersonalized, veiled in shadows and often merged with the elements surrounding it, distanced from any personal realm. In this manner I feel I can focus on the portrayal of the beauty, nobility and poetry of the human body.
Some of your images are self portraits. Tell us a little about them. Why did you do them and were they hard to do?
I have been taking self portraits ever since I had my first 35mm camera. The first time was when I was enrolled in a little photography course. I needed to do some exposure and lighting exercises and I didn't want to subject anyone to modeling for these. So I set the camera up on the tripod and used the timer. Within minutes I decided to have some fun with it and I set up a mirror behind the camera. I have been taking self portraits ever since, although without a mirror. For several years I have been using a Polaroid camera exclusively for these self portraits. There is a transmutation through these self portraits. It is as though I step out of my body in some way. It is a study in self and I will admit that I have always been fascinated with myself as much as with any other person who has inspired me. It is also a way of giving expression to my own self image, how I see myself, and, more importantly, it serves me in going a little deeper with myself - it is a form of introspection. Just as my writing in a journal for over 18 years has served me well in exploring some of my shadows and dark passages, my wit and infinite curiosity, self portraiture has assisted me in the further exploration and evolution of Maddalena. Speaking strictly from a photographic perspective, self portraiture is a wonderful exercise for any practicing and learning photographer. It's good to know what it feels like being on the other end of the camera and it's important to deal with how we feel about the results. Let's face it we are all vulnerable to some degree when it comes to our body image, it is very intimately connected to how we feel about ourselves and to some deeper source which runs through us. This brings me to the most important point of this whole exercise, to realize and portray the connection between body, spirit and soul in the depiction of the human form, to go beyond what is apparent to the eye and somehow magically, once we understand this, there is an alchemy which occurs quite naturally between the photographer, the camera and the model, we begin to see things differently and this is conveyed in our photographic work.
You have some very wonderful male nudes. Is working with the male model different than working with females? How do you find your models?
It is different in the way that men and women are different, that is to say, from an artistic point of view, we are presented with different linear and textural elements. As far as working with male or female models it makes no difference to me personally. Sometimes I am looking for the contrast of soft lines against a harsh and rugged background - it really all depends on what I may be looking for and what I ultimately discover, and this depends on the person I am working with, what kind of body the person has - how they feel about their body. The body tells me a lot about what is going on internally, the way they hold themselves, the little moves, the body tells a story, sometimes it's the story of a body that needs to be freed, that aches to move fluidly and yet cannot, but all this goes beyond the body's needs, I may also sense the need for that person to free themselves internally, and so I work with these feelings, with the energies and the little flashes and glimpse of what is going on inside that body and it becomes part of the photograph. I don't use professional models. I work with people I know - or have met. People that I can see and feel something about. It is more than just photographing beautiful naked bodies for me it is about reaching in and bringing out much more.
In the past two years we have featured several women and their work on the Sensuous Line, but none of them from the States. Why do you think this is? How are values different where you are?
In my travels I have come to realize that Canada is a very emancipated country compared to some places, I have been. For example there are many women working in the film business in Canada, and not just working within the traditional female roles in film, such as wardrobe, makeup and hair, we have women directors, electrics, dolly grips, props masters. I know from speaking with people that work in the film industry in the U.S. that it is not as common nor is it in Europe. So maybe this says something, it's hard for me to say, I mean maybe it's as simple as, women will do it and can do it (whatever it is) if they want to do it. I don't want to speak for others, I can say for myself though, that being a woman has never stood in my way. I have very rarely let common taboos and prejudices aimed at women stop me from doing anything I ever set my heart on. Ultimately it's not so much about being a woman or a man - it's about the person one is and what one desires to do in their lifetime, what challenges we may seek, what troubles we may wish to avoid, how far we are willing to go to realize ourselves and our truth as a person and as an artist.
What directions would you like to see your photography go in the next few years?
I would like to give my photography the freedom to go in any direction I or it may take me or it. If that makes any sense, I don't know. Essentially I have a very open relationship with photography, there are no conditions really in terms of directions or accomplishments. I want to keep it fresh - to keep the excitement and inspiration alive by allowing it to take as many twists and turns as necessary. It has become very clear to me that there is a very strong connection between my photographic work and my sculpture. I am presently working on a series of sculptures for a show called "Positions for Prayer" a lot of my inspiration for these pieces has its roots in my photographic nude figure studies. It's an ongoing journey and exploration to discover, reveal and interpret aspects of human nature and the planet we inhabit .