Interview: Luca Girardini
Luca Curci talks with Luca Girardini during VISIONS, third appointment of the ANIMA MUNDI 2022 art fair, at Palazzo Bembo.

I am an Architect who decided to dedicate to Photography. I graduated in architecture at the IUAV University of Venice (ITA) in 2006. After some years working as an architect I started a career as freelancer photographer in 2010 focusing on Architecture, Interiors and Landscape. Currently I am based in Berlin and I work mainly in Germany, Italy and Spain. My photos have been published, between others, on magazines like Domus, ArquitecturaViva, WERK . bauen+wohnen, AD, Interni, Living … In 2020 I have been selected, as part of the collective MZ+LG, at the “Atlante dell’Architettura Contemporanea”, a project of the Italian Ministry of Culture, to photograph various italian contemporary architectures. Project shown at the Triennale Museum in Milan and at the Museo Nazionale Romano in Rome between 2021 and 2022. In 2010 I won the international competition “Diari della Terra” promoted by the Veneto Regional District of Italy. In 2016 I’ve been selected at Photoespaña Descubrimientos with my research project “What’s wrong with my villa?”. In 2018 year my long-term project “|nf|n|te” was part of a group show at the B4 gallery of Madrid. The same year I have been selected by the municipality of Camisano Vicentino (Vicenza, ITA) to photograph the archeological ruins of Ancient Olimpia in Greece. I have collaborated with Seville University of Architecture (Spain) and The University of Architecture of Villavicencio (Colombia) for a series of online conferences “Urban analysis and photography”.

Luca Curci – How did you get to photography?
Luca Girardini – I studied Architecture at the IUAV in Venice and after a few years working as an architect I started to develop a passion I had for a while, Photography. I was living in Madrid at the time and for about a year I worked in the mornings as architect and dedicated the afternoons to photography: workshops, finding assignments and developing personal projects. I soon realised that I would focus in Architecture, Interior and Landscape Photography. Perhaps my specialisation in architecture and restoration has some points in common with photography, which is a discipline of observation and synthesis of the built environment.

LC – Do you remember why you took your first professional photo?
LG – One of the first photos that played a decisive role in my career was a photo that led me to the first prize of the ‘Diari della Terra’ competition in 2010, an international competition on the Rural World of Veneto. That photo was without a doubt a powerful boost. Many of those elements that you can see in it (stylistic, compositional and technical) are still present in my images.

LC – When you take photos, are you usually inspired by the situation or do you find inspiration in yourself?
LG – My research starts from observation, analysis and the development of an idea, as maybe all photographs do. The idea comes from what I observe around me: the built landscape, architecture and their influences on people.There are influences between the identity (understood as a common consciousness) of a people and the space in which they live. Who we are gives structure to the built environment around us, in a good or bad way. In my opinion an important role is played by the historical heritage that remains imprinted in the architectures. The continuous interaction between History-Built Landscape-People is somewhat the basis on which I work. I often then focus on the frictions and historical non-senses of certain construction actions.

LC – What is the most challenging part about creating your artworks?
LG – The search for the visual coherence of the photos that create a photographic series. The series itself must then reflect the idea I had proposed at the beginning of the work. It is a balance between many factors.

LC – How is your creative process?
LG – My working process needs a long period of observation and study. I usually don’t start out with a very clear idea right away and several outings are necessary to take a large number of photos that allow me to understand what I want to tell. The initial idea is often rough and needs to be improved by looking around. It takes a lot of work for me to find the right visual cut for each work. For example, my research ‘What’s Wrong With My Villa?’ started out as a series of portraits of buildings in my village in Veneto. I just wanted to show the houses as they were. As I was shooting, I saw something stronger in the photos I produced and so I focused on the buildings that tried to imitate the Venetian Renaissance Villas. The result was curious, interesting and coherent work. In these processes an important role is given to the collaborators that I find around me. It is important to start a conversation with experts on the field which can give a stronger structure to the world. I use to talk with many people over my ideas in order to see reactions and to get new points of view.

LC – Are your artworks focused on a specific theme?
LG – The Relationship between People-Architecture-History is certainly what interests me the most. There are many interactions and they are often visible in the territory (urban and otherwise) that surrounds us. How do architecture and history influence the identity of a people? And how does a people’s identity and history influence an architecture? How does a people apply its historical knowledge to an architecture?

LC – We were attracted by your last artistic production, has the artwork presented been created for the exhibition or as a part of preexisting works?
LG – The photo selected for the VISIONS exhibition was taken in 2013. It is not part of a series and was created as a homage to Venice. The more I look at it, the more I realise that it is a dialogue between 2 historical/artistic eras. And a dialogue is not necessarily always cordial.

LC – Do you agree with our vision of art and what do you think about the theme of the exhibition?
LG – I have to thank Itsliquid for the possibility which is giving to me and all the other artists. The theme leaves freedom for infinite interpretations. Without a doubt, this is an element of strength and democratisation of art. Many times we need the possibility to be visible on a special venue as the venetian ones and here we have this first possibility.

LC – What do you think about ITSLIQUID Platform?
LG – I was following the website at the beginning mainly for the Architecture Section, I like the selection of projects and how they are shown. After this collaboration I can say that Itsliquid It is a well-made platform with competent and organised people. The interdisciplinary approach is certainly a strength, as the variety of contributions and calls.