Laurent Castellani is a Fine Art Portrait Photographer from Nantes, France. Laurent got interested in art from childhood and very good in painting and poetry. In Laurent words, the emotion and environment are very important to take a great portrait.
Thanks, Laurent for accepting our invite. Please read on…
Hi Laurent, thank you for joining us here today! First of all, Could you please introduce yourself?
Hello, my name is Laurent Castellani, from La Rochelle and Ile de Ré (in France, Atlantic coast, I am now based in Nantes) I am a digital art director of profession, sensitive to art since childhood, I developed my sensitivity to photography and video there are only 2 years a little by chance and since I had a lot of recognition so it pushed me to continue.
Please share some of your childhood memories towards the art?
I have two memories that come back to me often, When I was very very young, in kindergarten I remember we had coloring workshops and I strained visibly more than the others not to exceed traits :) and to multiply the colors. So when I was writing I tried to write very beautiful letters in the words so that I was the one who wrote the best in the class. I loved to take my time so that the words I wrote was the most beautiful.
When did you start shooting and how did this love for photography happen?
There was a decisive shoot in August 2018, when I shoot I felt that something was happening and that this shoot will change my perception and that of others on my ability to create via this art. It is the one under the bridge with the color red.
What fascinates you to capture these precious portraits?
I obviously have an ability to magnify a subject and give it an âmen, if I did not succeed either then I think I did not succeed my shoot.
What is that you have adhered and learned through photography over the years?
No matter the subject, the team or even the place, we can always make a beautiful photo with not much and without even thinking that it can happen. This chance that makes a shoot each time different will always fascinate me.
Before I was trying to shoot only models in the agency until the day of this shoot under the bridge with Heloïse who was perfect unknown agencies and shootings (she had never shot) and yet my shoot shone into the Netflix offices without saying more.
What is the secret behind taking a good portrait?
The emotion, then comes the combination with the place.
Few words about your post-processing?
I do not retouch, just a few settings I created myself in Lightroom.
What do you do to keep motivated, and not lose your passion for photography?
One of the shoot in August 2018 with Heloise, we did not know one hour before, we had no makeup artist, no stylist, we did not know what we would do, I decided on a whim of go under the bridge. We lacked light so I decided to block my rear lights on the car with my backpack. I took my Leica Q and shot randomly asking Heloîse to raise his arms to the sky and play the dislocated puppet. The blue sky behind dog and wolf and the red was a timeless and very cinematographic, that night everything has to walk and it was magic, it was also very good he had to do 25° to 22h. It was a very nice feeling to finally crystallize what I had always wanted to give as the atmosphere. I saw my idol “Lynch” through the scenery, the subject and the lights.
What camera and lenses do you use the majority of the time?
- Canon 5D Mark IV with 100mm macro for portraits
- Leica Q (28mm fixed) for landscape and big angle.
What does Laurent do when not behind the lens?
At this moment I am taking care of my son he is One and a half years old. I try to be there for my family.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Finding creative time despite modern life, work, family, social life.
Apart from photography, tell me about your hobbies and interests?
I like music, cinema enormously. I was a bassist for 9 years in 3 different groups and did a lot of concerts. I often go to the movie theater. I also make personal movies. I like exhibitions.
Thanks again for providing 121 Clicks with this opportunity to interview you. Any final thoughts for our readers?
Turn your weaknesses into strength and create as much as possible what you love. Life is short.
You can find Laurent Castellani on the Web:
Copyrights:
All the pictures in this post are copyrighted Laurent Castellani. Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.
