You meet many people when you are out and about in the world. During one of my trips to Paris I ran into Kenza. She’s young, she’s energetic and her smile is infectious. We started talking in a bar a about fashion and life and passion for our respective trades. She told me she was a photographer living in Bali. I looked at her and thought to myself: “Yeah, yeah, she’s just another person with a camera who calls herself a photographer because it sounds good…!”
But how wrong I was. And I’m more then happy to admit it. This girl is good, as in GOOD…!

Moa: Tell us a bit about your background

Kenza:My parents are french (Avignon and Normandie ) but I have mexican and Moroccan blood from my biological father. I grew up in Bali and left the south of france ‘Avignon’ when I was 7years old. It was because of my parents business we decided to move to Bali.

You started taking pictures at a very young age, where did this interest arrive from?

At the age of 14 i saved up money to buy a reflex camera to be able to capture moments of my lifestyle. I’ve always been interested in everything related to art since I was a kid but when i started to understand the freedom of having a camera in the hand and creating scenarios, photography was it

How would you say that your love to photography has developed since then?

By working with other artist, capturing any beauty, getting inspired by places I’ve been or moments in my life Ive been trough … Imagination never stops but keep growing the more I shoot the more I learn new little things

How is it to be a young female photographer in the fashion industry?

Well, at the beginning it wasn’t to easy. I must say the agency wouldn’t let me test their models to experiment or make up artists for that mater, and stylist didn’t trust me. So I had to fight to work with them, then slowly they started recognize my work and to agree on doing projects together. Now I don’t see any difference between me and the ones who’s been in the business longer.

How have you learned the tricks of the trade? Have you had any support from an older and more experienced photographer?

Well I am very far from knowing all the tricks to be honest. I’ve been learning by reading books and online tutorials and experimenting by my own. I did an internship with a photographer, but that was a long time ago. At the moment I have lots of support from this photographer that teach me heaps of stuff, I would actually call him my ”professor”, and I’m his muse. We both are really passionate about what we do. We have very different eyes and styles, but we get really inspired by each other. He have all the technical knowledge and I bring the art touch. That’s why we learn from one another.

When working, what inspires you the most?

It really depends… Everything can inspires me. For example when I work with a wonderful team that gives good vibes to the shoot, but even a negative vibe with a energy can inspire me. But also how people act or react to something, the light, the location I’m working, the mood I am in and the connection I have with the model is also very important… I always try to be very close to her rather then using her like an object. That way I get the most of her and can capture something more deep and powerful.
I’m usually inspired before I’m on set. Thats an everyday inspiration from movies or situation I put my self in, relationships I have with people by partying. Dreams is also one of my biggest inspiration.I write everything down and think of how I could make all this emotions into an concept, a photo shoot.

What would you say is the hardest part of being a freelance photographer?

You have to be organised when it comes to everything. Depending on the low and high season I have to be aware my money situation, because I don’t get an every month fix salary… There is no company or agencies that represent me so I have to promote my self constantly not to be forgotten by shooting and make people talk about me as much as possible. You to be active and never stop creating & building artistic projects etc.. I am completely independent so there’s good and negative sides of it.

Where would you say you get most of your costumers from? And is there a difference when it comes to where you get most projects and where you get most money?

Mainly from word of mouth. There’s also the publications in Magazines (editorial) that helps, of course interviews, but also Instagram and Facebook. Usually its brands that get in contacts with me to photograph their new campaign/lookbook. It doesn’t make a difference where they hear about me when it comes to who pays the most. There’s really big companys who have found me via Instagram and low budget companies that might have seen my work in a magazine. It doesn’t really make a big difference.

Do you do other photo shoots other of fashion?

Well I am still in this ”experimenting” phase of my life where I’m trying to find myself and my style… I also do landscape and lifestyle. I recently met a war photographer, and I would love to experiment with this as well, but what I mainly love is fashion and beauty. Thats what I love the most because its like having a white piece of paper and a pen and draw what you have in mind. Choosing a girl that is right for the concept, creating an ambiance and an attitude. I went with my ”professor” on an excursion a week ago to climb a sulfur volcano at 2 in the morning in Jawa to take images and do an exhibition, capturing shooting stars, workers, and lava fields. It was quiet magical and we are very satisfied with the result of the images.

When and where are you expecting to be having this exhibition?

In Hong Kong hopefully before july but i can’t say more on the subject before its 100% ready.

Before ending this interview, could you tell us about one of your favourite shoots and why it left such an imprint on you?

I could seriously give you 100 of examples…Haha…
This is a hard one because I am very emotionally attached to almost every single of my shoots. But I could give you few example of ones that has touch me the most. I’ve loved Frida Kahlo since I studied her when I was in school. So I decided to make a shoot with her as the main inspiration. It wasn’t easy, the stylist and make up artist is a very difficult woman hard to work with that doesn’t go along with anyone, and the model had the put herself in Frida’s skin. The pictures turned out very good and really created the emotion I had in mind. Its probabably one of my favourite shoots.
There’s also another one that I really love. It was in studio and I did it with my ex boyfriend who’s an hairdresser. The concept was very dark, we had to drop candle wax on a female model, it was late at night and very hard to get the light right, but the entire the team was working hard and the images turned out insane! Every time I look at those photos it bring me back to that beautiful obscure night we all had.
I also really like this other shoot I did with a russian model. It was only her and I, and we did everything together in terms of make up and wardrobe. We were alone in this villa and we just hanged out and took photos. I really got to know her in a short time and that is what made the pictures look so good and you can see that there’s true emotion behind it.

For the third interview of Creative Minds for Core77, I would like to introduce Giorgio Giussani. I’ve been following him and his love for analog photography for quite a few years. His way of experimenting with analog cameras and traditional films is refreshing in these days of photoshop and Instagram. Born and raised in Italy, Giorgio lived and studied in London for ten years, traveled the world and is now based in the tropical island of La Reunion.

You can follow him and his adventures with the camera on Flickr and Facebook

You have been in the creative field for a long time, what was it that first awoke your interest?

Giorgio Giussani: I believe people are born creative. Personally, I have always loved “making” things from when I was a kid. I grew interested in graphic design and photography later on, probably around when I was a teenager. I still remember having an old Kodak compact film camera that I loved using. Somewhere along the way, I abandoned the use of film cameras, until nine years ago, when I stumbled upon a bright red Holga camera in a market in Stockholm. I’ve been using film ever since—I believe that it was that Holga camera that more awoke my interest for analog photography.

You say you used to make things when you were young, can you give us some examples?

A little bit of everything. I remember taking kids magazines and drawing a copy of the cover on a piece of paper. This was definitely one of the things I loved the most. Sometimes I was simply tracing over the magazine to copy a character or a picture; other times I was just trying to make my own characters… Not always successfully, but remember that it definitely was fun!

I’ve always loved bright colours and today you can see how this translates into my photography… I experimented with paint and colored pencils but never took this any further. You can definitely say that making things with my hands has been a constant pattern ever since I was young.

Does this streak of creativity run in your family?

I am the only creative one in my immediate family, at least when it comes to a 9-to-5 job. I believe that each individual is creative, but some show it and nurture it, others do not. Some members of my family can be creative on some tasks—my mom when she is cooking, for example—but they don’t make creativity their way of life. Perhaps some people have a need to always be creative, to experiment with their creativity, while others can be creative on occasional tasks but without having this constant urge to create.

Being the only creative one in the family, did the people around you support your goals and dreams?

I have always been supported by my family and still am. In a competitive environment like the creative one, moral support is very important. It is hard to get into a creative school, to find a job, but also the creative world (well, the world in general) is full of challenges… So support from family and friends is vital, whether you are a creative or not.

What made you decide to leave Italy to study graphic design in London?

I wasn’t happy with the education system in Italy. I studied at the Politecnico of Milan, and although it is a good university for architects and engineer I strongly think it is NOT a design school. Too theoretical, too many textbooks and too few sketchbooks. For someone like me, who love making things and experimenting, it was not a great system. I felt like I’d wasted three years studying economics, chemistry and physics, while the only thing I really wanted was to CREATE.

I found the world that I wanted at Central Saint Martins school of art. Not many books (of course I did read on my own time but wasn’t forced to do so), a lot of laboratories to experiment—printing to textile to film. I was like a kid in a candy store. The education system was based on sketching ideas all the time, it was very creative and very challenging at times. I had A LOT of fun while creating and I really enjoyed my years at Central Saint Martin. A design university for creative should not be boring… It has to be fun and very experimental. I loved it and so far it was the best decision of my career.

After you finished at Central St Martins, you stayed in London for quite a few years, what sort of work did you work with?

I actually found my very first job in London while I was still studying. It was a great opportunity to start. Just a small agency working as graphic designer, a good school to learn about the reality of graphic design. I worked in other companies in the following years, moving from graphics to packaging to finish on advertising. I didn’t want to go back to Italy, seeing that the creative industry over there is not very dynamic—it is too old for the type of creativity I am looking for. London, on the other hand, is a very creative city and there are many opportunities over there. There I developed my skills as a photographer and I also ran workshops in creative photography for two years. I did a couple of exhibitions of my photography and I also published four books. A busy ten years in London!

You got back into analog photography after you got your hands on a red Holga during a visit to Stockholm. How has that influenced your life?

It changed my life completely. Analog photography started influencing my daily job… Sometimes I like mixing them! It changed my life so much that I never leave the house without one of my cameras, just in case I find something I want to take pictures of. When I got my red Holga, I knew nothing about film photography (even though I had used film cameras in the past. They were manual and I was way younger).

I started reading about analog photography and techniques. It was pretty much trial and error for the first few months, but it was very important a to learn the basics of film photography. I started experimenting with slide film, cross processing and achieving the bright colors I love so much. I experimented with double exposures and numerous techniques, including my latest experiments with altering the emulsion of my films with cleaning products like bleach. I sometimes love to destroy my film, I love putting them in the dishwasher or boil them in a film soup. I love the unpredictable effects and the manual process. So I can clearly say that my Holga changed my life in a very positive and creative way.

In the beginning of your love for analog photography, did you have any plan of where you wanted to go with it?

Absolutely no plan—I just wanted to try that red Holga. After I start learning about film photography, it became nearly an addiction to experiment with different films and different cameras. I bought other cameras, mostly second hand from vintage market and I kept shooting. Nearly a decade later and I am doing exhibition and publishing books of my photography. I never expected that when I began, but I believe it was a natural development. You first fall in love with something and start getting to know more and more about it until it is just part of your life. Now that I know a little bit more about film photography, I know where I want to take it. Eight years ago I didn’t have enough commercial experience, but now I can see the potential that film photography can have.

And what sort of potential is that?

A lot of people these days use Instagram. It is very popular and the effects are based on the style of film photography. There is something magical about analog that people love; the grain, the tones. Something that you can’t repeat with photoshop or computer manipulation. These effects can’t be replicated with a computer.

And how do you want to share this love that you and others have for the effects of film photography in future projects?

I started doing some fashion photo shoots for example. Analog photography is very experimental and great for these sort of photoshoots. Even Lady Gaga loved one of my pictures and tweeted it. We are so used to extremely retouched and photoshopped pictures that analogue photography is like fresh air and a capture more real, untouched emotions .
Now I’m also working on some analog videos projects and I’m planning on publishing more books of my travels and photography.

What made you decide you wanted to publish your photography in a book format?

One of my colleague once asked me ” Why don’t you publish a book of your photography?” so I looked into options of publishing and I decided to self-publish my books. So far, I published four books: two from my travels, one for kids to learn the alphabet with street art, and one about experimental film photography.

Where did you come up with the idea for the children’s book?

It was a random idea I had just before christmas. The book is about learning the alphabet with street art. Street art is very colourful and street artists produce amazing pieces. It is very eye catching. And street art is very popular with adults too, so it is a double win. It is a book for children but also a book for parents to look at street art.

And the two books documenting your travels, what do they represent for you?

Traveling and photography are my main passions. The books about my travels are showing what I discover during my trips. The first book is about London, where my first big journey started; the second book published is about my trip to the nuclear plant of Chernobyl. The collection is going to grow with more books soon: I’m working on a book about my trip to Cuba and one about my Trans-Siberian train travel.

These books are not travel guide books, but rather they show you how I see the world through the plastic lens of my toy cameras.

How do you support the travels, cameras and films?

Cameras luckily are not too expensive as they are plastic toy cameras. Film and processing is probably the most expensive part. Travelling can be cheap… I travel low budget, third class train, camping, hostels… I sell some of my pictures to finance my travelling and I don’t go out every weekend, just so I can save money for my travels.

Where would you like to go with your photography? What is your master plan…?

I usually don’t make long term plans, but I would love to be able to travel for a longer period of time, 2–3 years, to document a trip around the world. I definitely don’t want photography to become a full time job. It is my hobby, in that way I don’t have any restrictions. I can do what I want with it! It is very difficult to see where film photography will go as more and more companies are discontinuing films so the future of analog photography is uncertain.

Do you have any suggestion of how to bring it back into the eye of the mainstream again?

I think it will be very difficult to bring it back as mainstream media this days, probably due to the expensive materials and processing. It can survive as a niche market if film producers will realize that. They are still trying to sell films for the masses but only few people will use it. A problem with analog photography is that it is not immediate as digital photography. You need to process film and scan them, while on Instagram you can take a picture and upload it within seconds. I think analogue can survive but we have to work hard as to keep it alive.

Getting back to your process, do you have one?

My process: No, I don’t have a specific one. Usually it depends on how I feel. Sometimes I feel like baking my films, sometimes I feel like bleaching them. Usually it is all very intuitive with little preparation before hand.

So what is your next step?

My next step is creating new projects here on the Island of Reunion. I would like to start taking portraits of people, something I always find very difficult. I am planning to publish more books and to experiment even more with my film soups.

If you were to give some do’s and don’t’s to people who want to start doing film photography, what would it be?

DO take lot of picture and experiment. DONT think about the result
DO insist even if the first few rolls are not great
DON’T give up..keep trying
DO love analog
DON’T hate digital