| Alessandro Ruggieri |
If you could be anything right now, what would you be?
A happier version of me. Something I was like a year ago: with more
perspective, enthusiasm, more focused, with the feeling that I was going
somewhere and that my energy was being well invested in something growing.
What book are you reading?
There is a bunch of books next to my bed, from essays to novels, photography… I tried to start to read again, but I’m kind of failing. The last books I read from beginning to end were Joe Matt’s graphic novels. I’m too often reading my smartphone before going to sleep.
What photographer is currently teaching you something and why?
There are many photographers that inspire me or that have inspired me, mostly coming from a constant flow of images picked from blogs, so it’s difficult to identify a name and a way he/she is inspiring me, I grab a lot from what I see around but sometimes without even thinking. Anyway a few names, additions to a broader list of inspiring photographers (see people quoted here: http://notcommonpeople.com/artists/alessandro-ruggieri/) could be: Mariana Pacho Lopez, Berta Pfirsich and Igor Termenón for their neat, simple and beautiful film fashion photography and Dima Tolkachov for its style: I like the subjects, the techniques he’s using, something I can’t define too much, something that makes his photography subtle and interesting. Another photographer I really like is Emanuele Cardesi: you can’t find much by him on the net and I’m not sure he’s still active in photography; his photos are
full of feelings and I wonder what is he doing now.
Are you working on a particular project right now? Can you tell us something about it?
In general I’m working on organizing better my work and trying to understand better which direction I should take. I feel a bit like questioning what I’ve been doing until now, feeling a bit the pointlessness of it all, a bit like at a crossroads at this point: all possibilities are open, including keep doing exactly the same or just quitting everything haha!
Then there are a few more specific projects I’m thinking about but it’s too early to talk about those as still at a too early stage of development and they might never exist. To talk about things that still don’t exist it’s confusing for my process, I think. Plus, giving a definition to something that is still evolving it’s dangerous for the formation and all the potential different shapes it could take… to talk too much brings bad luck to the project… and it’s even more frustrating if you say something and then you don’t accomplish it. Until you don’t have something certain better keep it secret and act very mysterious you know?! 😉
Talking about projects in general: I was a candidate to recent council elections in my hometown but I wasn’t elected (TOOBAD!) and I’m putting up a new band!
What is photography for you?
I’ve just been doing it and never thought too much of a definition. As I try to look for a definition now I can’t seem to come up with something I like. If I try to get too deep I feel I’m always missing the point, if I’m too shallow I feel I’m too shallow :/.
To keep it simple anyway: photography is something that I usually enjoy doing more than other things; something I like to look at, something that stimulates my mind, like, since I started looking deeper into photography a few years ago, I started to have ideas about photographs and it just feels right to follow something that grows in your head: in this way photography is a creation of something happening in my head and therefore a way of expression.
What do you do in your free time (when you’re not shooting)?
Mostly using the internet or playing some music or taking a walk.
tumblr: http://kind-of-empty.tumblr.com/
flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/use-less-useless-words/
email address: aleruggio@libero.it
fb page: https://www.facebook.com/kindofnothing
