When
and with what equipment have you taken your first underwater
shot?
My
first underwater shot was in 1970, and my camera was a Calypso/Nikkor
II with a 35 mm lens and a black and white Ilford HP5 film,
and I didn't use flash.
How did your underwater photography passion start?
Skimming through "Mondo Sommerso" and reading
Hans Hass and William Beebe, watching the photos by Maurizio
Sarra, Roberto Merlo, Ludwig Sillner, Dietman Reimer, Victor
De Santis, which were published on that review.
What
does the underwater photography represent to you?
To
make concrete moods and emotions that could fade away.
Amongst the numerous prizes and recognitions you received,
which one gave you most satisfaction?
Every single prize is connected to a growing step in this
my photographic path, so I can't say and assert that winning
the "Best slides" in California was more exciting
than my first "Plonger d'or" in Antibes. What
gives me "most satisfaction" is to realize "multivision"
meetings, to make visual poems by Pablo Neruda, who was
intimately linked to the sea.
What
type of images do you prefer and which lens stimulates you
most?
I
have not particular preferences, the worth thing to me is
to stay in a particular point in the sea and use the right
lens.
When
you started taking pictures, did you have a point of reference?
May be a person? And
where have you learnt the techniques to succeed?
I
started taking underwater pictures in 1970 to support with
documents my graduation thesis " A contribution to
the study on sea biocenosis in the western coast of the
Palermitan gulf". My points of reference were Victor
De Santis and his survey on "Mondo Sommerso" and
Ludwig Sillner's book "Underwater fishing by a camera",
Calderini edition 1600 italian liras. Later I found my point
of reference in a little book by Gart Krinkle, "Foto-sub",
and also in that one by Walter Muller. Finally trying to
understand my numberless faults.
What
equipment do you use to take your pictures?
-
Hughy for Pentax LX and for Nikon F90X cases.
- Yellow sub 350, yellow sub 120, K50, Subatec S100 and
Isomat 33 flash
- Velvia 50 and 100 ASA films.
Sometimes Nikonos III with 15 mm. The other lens that were
my companion for more than 20 years have now retired.
Many
people may have asked you advises on the where and the what
and the how to take pictures underwater. Yourself, what
is the best advise you have ever received?
I'm
a sensitive man, so, I think, "to be cool" was
the best advise I received from my friend and master Danilo
Cedrone.
Based
on your experience, what are the fundamental components
to make a "perfect" picture?
I
don't believe perfect pictures exist, at least as regards
my portfolio and according to what I could think. Pictures,
which are extremely well turned out, can exist. I succeed
in taking them when I'm in a sensitive mood and my emotional
approach is symbiotic with the environment where I am.
Is
there a shot that you particularly remember?
I
prefer expectations to memories, so the shot that get me
excited most didn't come yet…in the case I want!
The
place or the dive that you liked most?
Marcel
Proust, the French writer, said you need not see always
different places but to look at the same places with different
eyes. That is why "my" place is Ustica, the isle
where I have been going for 40 years and where fortunately
I enjoy the privilege to own a little blue house nearby
the port.
On
the other hand, the place or dive that disappointed you
most?
The very few disappointments I had,
weren't due to the places but to my mood which, in that
moment, was not in harmony with that particular environment.
In
your long experience as underwater explorer have you ever
been in a difficult situation, scared, or in danger?
At Maldive Islands, in an oceanic
pass of the isle of Alimatha because of a great current
to the open sea. They salvaged me by some "coconuts"
bended to a hemp line that I kept under my armpits while
two natives drew me under the "doni" (boat). My
hands were engaged in keeping the case.
To
conclude, what is on top of your dreams?
Easter Island, to interpret by images Pablo Neruda's verse
taken from the book "the separated rose" that
the poet wrote being inspired by that island.
Domenico,
many thanks for your time and kindness. Good luck!
It
would be better dreams come true later and later, so that
you feel your lifetime be longer.
Ciao, thank you Mimmo
