I was Born in Rome, Italy, 10th of december, 1974.
In an old family photo album is a picture of me playing with a camera on the balcony.
Below the photo reads: 1976.

It would have been a great start if I had not stopped pursuing photography for an engineering degree...
I continued to play with photography off and on up until the age of 20 learning basic rules, compostion, exposure, films ISO forcing, light correction, darkroom, sepia and coloring transformations.

I used to print in the bedroom at night forcing my brother to sleep in an acid saturated room.
My family was forced to wait for my prints to dry before they could use the shower.

I organized night photo marathons with friends... that didnt ask about photography anymore... and neither about me.

I carried with me, during my first “love vacation” with my “promised” wife, three 35mm cameras using 3 different films (diapositive Fujichrome Velvia 50 color, B/W Ilford delta 100 and film Kodak Portra VC 160), tripod, filters, lenses, focal 2x multiplier, reflective panels, flash etc.

During the second trip, I carried with me a medium format camera with no exposimeter, so I would either eyeball the exposure or use another reflex 35mm, while others rolled their eyes at me;
organized a photo marathon in Venice remaining awake 44 hours with pouring rain and breaking my first EOS 300D.

During the last 15 years I learned to shoot quickly, using memorized movements to prepare diaphrams and approximate focusing before taking my eye to the camera.
I would use stupid excuses to distract my wife and shoot in a hidden way, quickly and secretively.

I started shooting landscapes, then people. I began looking at people and really studying them, attempting to capture their natural expressions. In time, my landscapes as well as my portraits started telling stories.

Up until now I worked 14 hour days as an engineer. Every night for the past several years, with dedication,
I have turned on my pc and worked on or studied photography.

My prolonged and difficult journey to professional photography rewarded me with the opportunity to freely experiment
and find my style without any commercial compromise.
I cannot deny that my photo obsession has lead to many problems in my personal relationships, but photography has saved me and maintained me on this Earth during times when I would have been lost in front of life's obstacles.

My masterpiece... is the next photo, everytime.

www.flaviocarnevale.com