What Are Some Challenges Photographers Face On a Daily Basis?
Beyond The Lens #1 — Pietro Favaron 📷
Pietro Favaron (@pietro_favaron) is an Italian photographer living in Padua, northern Italy — working full-time at the National Institute of Nuclear Physics.
Glad to have you on this Thursday’s conversation! I wonder, how does one mix a busy job at a nuclear physics institute with outdoor-driven photography?
Photography comes in as a form of escaping technicalities… I always had a passion for drawing but my two brothers are already in that world so my parents weren’t very happy about another one going in the creative direction.
My mom is an architect and my dad is an engineer… and out of three children, I’m the only one that took this technical job.
Is that related to Italian culture? Or just a general older-generation mindset?
I think it’s both ways… but most related to the older generation…my parents are from the 54’s, they just started working when in Italy the request for engineers was high. And my mom, even now, still has this idea that one needs to get a safe job…
I see. Can we talk about a point in your life that took you out of your comfort zone?
I think it’s the moment where I decided to leave the university to go to work and stop doing what my parents want me to do.
At some point, the pressure and the anxiety about failing were so high that I was ruining my life. I was depressed and anxious…
But I feel that I finally found something that is giving me happiness, you know, that feeling that you go to bed thinking about it and can’t wait to wake up to keep trying different stuff.
So this is where you find your peace with photography?
Yes.
And by taking it a step further you hope it can bring a decent income in?
At that point, I started taking photos with my sister’s old DSLR, and when I saved enough money I bought myself a new camera.
Your feed has a mix of landscapes, outdoor lifestyle, and portraits of your girlfriend Nadia — do you feel this represents your ideal style?
I’m not sure where & what I like about my photos, but for sure it’s something about documenting my experience and with who I’m experiencing it.
Documenting memories.
That is most important, because in the end what counts is the person we are sharing that moment with. That’s why I’m moving slowly more towards portraits…
Is that something that for you is more realistic to base a photography business upon?
I mean, I like spending my time with people, being in a beautiful landscape all alone is not the same as if you share that moment with someone else, but yes, I would love to be able to live from photography.
There is something about capturing moments that these days are so difficult to keep and so easy to forget. But for now, I’m not that good at it… I always visualize that in my mind but I struggle at capturing it. That’s why I keep trying, I keep watching tutorials, reading books.
So who would you say is your ideal client?
My ideal client…Actually, I never thought about it…
Well, it’s good to think about those things.
Could be a tattooer, a brand of mountain shoes, a brand of outdoor products…
Are there any of those near you?
Kind of close…for sure not in my city… But I’m not yet at that point…I’m still trying to figure out how to achieve the style I like.
So this is where your current struggle comes into with the editing style?
Yes!
On our IG story Q&A earlier this week, you mentioned consistency and focus when asked about daily challenges. Did you mean consistency in terms of styling your photos?
Yes, that’s my problem, so many really good artists out there with different styles. A style is how people see the final product… Both landscapes and portraits… Both during the summer or winter.
It seems like you are aiming to achieve the ultimate color grade, but don’t you think photography should be progressive?
I don’t know… I like what I shoot, I watch the photos after days and I feel the moment when I was there… But when it comes to sharing it on my page, they suddenly don’t look good together!
After I post I start comparing it with works from other artists and I feel my work is missing something… It does not look cohesive to me.
I do see you get a lot of engagement and positive feedback on your posts. You don’t trust them?
I don’t know… I’m not watching it… I just look at my photos and the second after I posted online I don’t like it just because they don’t have the tonality I would love for them to have.
That’s my main problem… There is a style that I’m trying to get on my work, it’s the 35 mm film look.
I’d like to understand this problem you’re facing because maybe other creatives following us are on the same boat. I hope you’re alright with me trying to dig into it a bit more.
Yeah, no problem. I’m trying to understand what my problem is too.
Perfectionism maybe?
For sure I am a bit of a perfectionist… but if I really aim for perfection I’ll never be happy with it. So I think that imperfection is what makes something perfect. The contrast is not that good in my eyes, doesn’t represent what I see or visualize.
Even when someone writes me feedback like “Good shot, love these tones…” — I would say, well, I don’t think so.
I think aesthetics nowadays plays a really big role. I know I should spend more time on what a photo tells instead of how it looks… But for me, what I see first is how it looks.
Some profiles that stand out for me have consistent tonality across the profile… How warm it feels, sometimes you can feel the summer just by looking at photographs.
So do you believe you’ll get to this goal of yours if you go forward with consistency? Or perhaps what you are trying to seek is the ability to better think of a photographic concept and interpret it visually.
Consistency for sure is something that I’m focusing on a lot right now… For beginners like me, choosing the style you want to get in your work is the main thing and understanding which one is hard, especially with many talented photographers around. When you chose your style I feel it will become easier to stay focused on your work. Editing consistency is key if you want others to understand your style…
I think it’s all connected… Being able to read light, where to place a subject, and how much depth of field you want… If you can not think about this when shooting you will be able to tell a story better and easier.
And so editing it the way you see it in your head will translate your vision into reality. You’re talking about being able to control the desired style to communicate it out.
We all see things in different ways… But being able to translate it and express it takes time.
Well, how long have you been photographing?
Seriously, with intention, from 2 years ago if you count this last year where I couldn’t move from my house for something like 9 months.
That’s not such a long amount of time, considering your quality now…
I wish I could spend lots more time on it compared to just on the weekend like I’m doing for now. I look outside my office window and I see this beautiful light and then when I finally finish my day job the light is gone. Finally, the days are getting longer and I’m looking for it, but I’m not so lucky to live in a special place.
But I have to work with what I have and work to move to another place…
Where’s that? Where would you travel to?
Portugal, Japan, India, Iceland, New Zealand, Australia, or the U.S.A.
I’m thinking more and more about warm places, even though I like mountains I think I have had enough of cold and grey weather.
This was an interesting conversation, I enjoyed trying to dig into what is required for you to be more content with your photography, and hopefully our fellow creatives at @FadedAestheticsGram can relate to some of these challenges you are facing as a photographer.
To finish off, do you have a question to ask our creative audience?
“What’s the first thing you notice in a good photo?”
We’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to share a response below or send us a direct message on Instagram!
Thanks for your time Pietro, and good luck working towards your goals!
👉 View Pietro’s portfolio here
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