Chantal Convertini: “I’m a very good observer, I keep being present and then things start to catch my eye naturally”

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Chantal Convertini

Film or digital?
I love both for different reasons, but mostly I value film more, because it adds more to the act of photography itself and it makes me more aware of what I do when I capture those images.

Chantal Convertini

I love how expressive and emotional your photos are! Especially your self-portraits. How can you be so real in front of the camera? Is it scary or liberating?
I take selfportraits for a long time now. It’s hard work but at same time something so natural for me and definitely something liberating. When my head is on the verge to explode and I can’t figure out how I feel and what’s going on I just take those images and they tell me exactly what I need to know.

Chantal Convertini

What does a ray of sunlight add to your photos?
Sunlight is my favourite light to play. I love what it does to all kind of surfaces. I don’t necessarily want to say “bring light to the dark” as a metaphor in those photos, but it has something from that thought in it. And I just love the particular highlight of a little piece of sunlight rushing into a room.

Chantal Convertini

I admire that you can be so creative with not much at all. How do the ideas come to you?
Sometimes it’s kind of intuition and I just start doing something and one thing leads to another. Sometimes I know what I want to say and I try to communicate it as simple as possible and last but not least I’m a very good observer, I keep being present and then things start to catch my eye naturally.

Chantal Convertini

Black & White or Color?

There’s amazing black and white work and I do have some of my own, but I definitely prefer color.

Chantal Convertini

If it’s OK with you, please tell me the story behind this photo.
It’s an image I shot for my master thesis. It’s basically about catching moments. I took this photo because it shows the most real me. In that very moment it didn’t matter how it would look like, I just knew this is intense and important and I needed it to be captured. It was the moment I realized that something I wanted to work out so badly, is foredoomed. Kind of the first crack of a broken heart.

Chantal’s Instagram profile: paeulini