AURORA GOES WILD WITH
unusual interviews in the Pussy Pusher’s style.
PIERO TOFFANO
When did you decide to start shooting girls? What was your “mental process” behind the decision?
I’ve started taking pictures more than 30 years ago, immediately working on nude. It has been natural, impossible not to focus on, because it’s one of the most passionate subjects you can choose. At the beginning it has represented an extension of sex, a sort of a seductive game. It then got closer to an artistic expression, based on exploration of beauty and on the use of nudity as a representation of life and humanity in its most real essence. Some tribes say that by taking a picture you can get the soul of a person, I think it has a true base. I like the idea of taking posses, to share the intimacy of the subjects I take pictures of.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
Nowadays the first thing I do when I sit on my bed is to check my blood pressure. Once I’ve noticed I’m not perfectly right, I stop worrying about all the others illnesses I could have, those which are much worse than blood pressure.
Does your mother appreciate your pictures?
Luckily she’s dead, so she can’t get embarrassed by things which are too far from her education.
A movie that we should watch.
Black Cat White Cat by Kusturica but even Brother and all Kitano’s filmography.
Who is your “dream” model? Where would you love to set your shooting?
My dreams’ model is Anna Morosini which in reality is the photographer of my dreams. I think that it’s the synergy between a photographer and a model that brings great results and if the two figures are melted in the same person there will be obvious advantages. There are even some models that make the 80% of the picture, like Yekaterina Polyakova. Talking about locations, I don’t have particular preferences, I usually like those which are part of everyday life that force our imagination to build arcane or fantasy places and situations.
Are you keeping your work secret to someone?
No, maybe I just avoid some economic indications.
Are you usually turned on by the model you are shooting?
During a shooting there’s a place for everything but I concentrate on limiting the ulcerative attacks I suffer from when I get anxious because of the shooting.
Name three photographers that you consider masters.
Luigi Ghirri, Yura kurnosov, Sanders McNew.
Did any model ever get mad at you because she was looking “ugly” in your pictures?
No, this it not possible because I just let them see the best photos. It has happen that someone has told me she didn’t recognize herself that much.
What do you do in your free time?
Do you mean beside work, that gives me money, photos and books? Nothing.
What is the difference between a good nude picture and an amazing one?
I haven’t seen a magnificent nude picture yet, but if I would see it I think it would shoot me for its simplicity and innocence. I will keep “magnificent” because I know that if I use it today, maybe I won’t know how to define the next one I’ll see, the one that will give me even a bigger sense of shock and admiration.
Who is, in your opinion, the most overrated nude photographer? And the one who is not appreciate yet?
I would put David Amilton among the overrated ones, but as you can see my photographic knowledge is a bit dated. Talking about those not appreciated yet, I don’t know. Young guns still have all the time necessary to come out.
Your biggest fault.
My low self-esteem.
What does your partner think about your work?
Hate and jealousy, because she is not the only thing I love.
Do you remember your dreams in the morning? Are you able to interpret them?
It’s easy, usually I dream about going to work, surely I hate going to work.
website: http://pierostrassa.altervista.org/
flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76524056@N00/
