and here comes Samantha Casolari

Samatha Casolari 

She is an Italian photographer who lives in Brooklyn, NY

Why are you so interesting in fashion photography?

I have actually never been interested in fashion photography, I would even skip fashion editorial in magazines until not so long ago, and even now, as my main interest was reportage. Then two years ago I started experimenting a little bit more with light, colors and the way to represent reality. And I realized that the new 'imagery' I had found spoke to me more than anything else I had shot before. It represented me more than anything else I shot before and reflected my personality so well. And it happens that imagery goes really well with fashion photography. It just happened quite naturally. i would say i have discovered fashion photography along the way, although it was never my objective. And at last the thing I love the most about it, is the possibility of make up stories, recreate reality, invent new worlds. I love that. And it is something in reportage you would never be able to do, given its goal of telling objectively a story and representing reality as it is.

How do you define your work?

My work has a lot of myself in it. My work is space out, it is a scattered sequence of visions more than dreams, it is me walking around with my music in my ear, it is what I see of magical in light and colors. It is my fascination with the possibility of playing with them, shifting reality with them. It represent people lost in their own world, sort of fluctuating in it

of all the clients (Nike, the New York Times T Magazine, AnOther Magazine, l'Officiel, l'Uomo Vogue, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, Dossier Journal, Flair, Conde Nast, the Independent, D di Repubblica, Vice Magazine, Pig Magazine and many others) that have worked, what has been the most interesting to work with?

I don't think I have a favorite or most interesting. Each one of them brought something that I could learn from into my life. Some of them clearly were more challenging than others and that was something I always appreciate. I was utterly honored to start working for the New York Times T Magazine. Working for Dossier gave me the opportunity to meet the amazing and inspiring people who make Dossier Journal, who let me shoot my own way. AnOther Magazine was another great opportunity, as they asked me to cover fashion week with my vision and shoot the shows using as a reference my 'psychedelic' pictures. This is a dream coming true for a photographer, as it means your vision IS going somewhere, HAS something to tell, and it is appreciated even at a professional level. With Nike happened pretty much the same thing. And it just feels so good when that happens...

What do you think it takes to shoot a great portrait?

.... well I am not sure about the answer to this question. I really do not believe there is one universal answer. My way to go is to push the subject out of their 'i have a camera in front of me thus i need to pose' mode. I don't like that. I want them to feel I am not there, to get lost in their own thought, because that is where I love to take portraits of people. When they are in their own mental space and they are thinking about their things. I feel it is so reveling of their personality and somehow, a little part of their soul. 

What it is your favorite part of the photographic process?

taking the pictures. seeing the results afterwards.

Natural light or Artificial light?

always natural / available light

What do you like about  new york city?

everything, i would need a month to say what i love about ny. it is the most magical place on earth and i could not think of living anywhere else. i think it is just crazy to live everywhere but ny!

What do you expect for the 2011?

lots of new images and a kitten called wolfang amadeus mozart.

One of my favorite images is of a model taken at Milan fashion week this past june. There's nothing special about technic, It was just shot in film. But his expression is just so beautiful, it always makes me dream. And it's so awkward as it is a model at fashion week, so I am not quite sure how that happens...!