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Interview of Daniele Deriu

Could you introduce yourself a little, talk a bit about your background?

My name is Daniele Deriu, I am 46 years old. I live in Cagliari (Italy), the city where I was born.
What I do to pay taxes has nothing to do with photography, but there was a time when I taught “rules of visual perception” and “study of iconography”.

When, how and why did you begin to make photography?

Maybe I'll do a little of prosopopoeia about myself, but... I'm one who "seeks" and "observes", not necessarily in that order. I've always photographed in one way or another, even without any camera. “With my eyes, my heart and my mind” (quote H.C.B.) I try to crystallize moments of existence... then I call them to my mind with a small act of nostalgia.

What do you like in this form of expression?

I'm lucky: the answer is included in the question. I love it because it is a way to express myself in a roundabout way.

What are the themes that you like to photograph?

I am an existentialist and my themes are existence, subconscious and symbolism. In this, I oscillate like a crazy pendulum between light and darkness ... my pictures are often dark, restless, while some other time they are "light", not without candor and sensuality. These are the works I post on SP :)

What are you looking to share through your photography?

Maybe something, maybe nothing. I like to think that, once "hung on a wall", the picture lives a life of its own, that depends on who is looking at it, with his experiences and his sensitivity.

What is your idea of sensuality?

I love the philosophical concept that describes the sensuality as a creature that lives in an instant.
This sexiness lives in the present moment, it seizes the essence (of existence) without planning or without projecting itself into the future. In the present moment, you can capture an attitude, a scent, a movement behind you, the swish of a dress … I feel this thought very close to the true concept of Photography, born to capture moments.

What photographers fascinate and / or inspire you?

It may seem paradoxical, but... the images that inspire me are often conceptually very far from my photos.

How do you prepare a session of shooting?

I prefer the "capture" to the "composition", although it is often difficult to establish a clear boundary between the two.
The person I photograph is both "muse" and "instrument", so it is important the feeling and the empathy with the model.

What (s) camera (s) do you use ?

A Pentax K3 (and some lens).

What (s) techniques do you prefer?

Now, digital photography. I laboriously pursue a form of "pictorialism" that combines the real and the ideal: with this I create my portraits or my figures (always female).

How and why did your photography changed?

It is difficult to answer. My images often reflect my moods, and I've always seen them as "emotional" steps in a route. Evidently it is not a linear path.

What brings you the internet media?

Internet is a great vector of information and emotions. Sometimes it helps me to "carry" mine, most of the time I use it in the opposite direction.

What do you expect from a website like Sensual Photography?

It is hard to imagine a theme-site better than SP ... not only for the quality of the images and artists it proposes, but because then it "transforms" everything in a beautiful book, one of the "objects" I love best in absolute.

What are your plans?

In April, I will participate at “Artexpo New York” with three works of mine (one of these, published in "Sensual Photography # 2) but, as a rule, I never do long-term programs. I am not suitable for this.

What would you add?

I would like to thank Nicole Fily and François Rommens for the fantastic work they do every day with their "creature", SP... and thank you also for being patient during this interview.