Lights, camera, emotions!

Renowned documentary and street photographer Fulvio Bugani shares his thoughts on making great photos with

APICTURE tells a thousand words, but a picture which can convey emotion makes it greater. You remember it forever. According to award-winning photographer Fulvio Bugani, the essence of a good photo is its ability to create emotion and bring life to the scene.

However, getting such photos requires a lot of hard work and perseverance. The 43-year-old photographer who comes from a small town in Bologna, Italy, has been involved in photography practically his whole life, right from his schools years. He is considered one of the best documentary and street photographers.

His works are recognised in many worldclass photo competitons, such as the World Press Photo 2015 — “Contemporary issues”, single photo; Monochrome Awards 2016, People; Leica Oskar Barnack Public Award 2016; and many more.

His photos have been published in international magazines and websites like

and

His famous works of art are The Golden Curls which is an image of a Cuban lady sitting on a chair; the Waria community in Kotagede, Yogyakarta, and his street and reportage shots in countries like Cuba, Kenya, Indonesia, Turkey and Georgia.

Bugani has produced a huge archive of documentary and street life images which are rich in colour and complexity.

He has been chosen by Leica as its International Ambassador for the new Leica M10, and has worked for international brand and artists like Juventus, Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari, Universal Music.

Bugani was in Kuala Lumpur recently to give a talk at a photography workshop organised by Leica Camera Malaysia.

THE BEGINNING

Bugani fell in love with photography after looking at the many pictures of his mother and grandparents. “What I saw in those pictures were emotions. I was attracted to them as I could feel the emotions in the face of the subjects,” he said.

At 16, he went to Argentina on a student exchange programme with a simple compact camera, and took many photos.

A dancer in Cuba.

“I tried to create emotions in those photos,” says Bugani, who by then already had set his mind on becoming a photographer.

When he was 17, one of his pictures was used as a cover for a magazine. “It was a great feeling. I clearly remember the subject of my photo — there were a few elderly people harvesting grapes on the Apennine Mountains near Bologna,” he says.

Bugani is self-taught, but much of his work is influenced by Magnum street photographer Alex Webb, who is known to use strong colours, light and emotions to capture beautifully complex images.

“I enrolled in Alex Webb courses, which I find inspiring, and combined some of his style with my idea of life,” he says.

Bugani started working as a photographer in 1995 after a close collaboration with major photo studios in Bologna. In 1999, he founded his own studio, Foto Image.

For over 20 years, he has worked with associations and non-government organisations and collaborations with Medecins Sans Frontier and Amnesty International in projects on human rights, illegal immigration and the right to housing.

To Bugani, photography is a means to bring people’s attention to the emerging topics.

“When I do a reportage photography, it is strictly related with human rights or crucial social issues. I feel that my work is important and indirectly, could change a situation by giving voice to the victims,” he says.

BUGANI’S STYLE

Commercial work aside, Bugani prefers his photos to be natural, not staged. What he does to get his photos may not be many photographers’ cup of tea.

In his opinion, if one wants to get the best possible natural photos, one needs to blend in well with the society he or she is documenting. For example, the many works he did in Cuba did not come from a single visit but from 20, since 2009, and he began to regard the country as his second home.

“Cuba is very different and much more complex than how it is often described. A distracted and superficial eye may notice only poverty and backwardness when there are beautiful landscapes and other irresistible attractions.

My work there is a personal investigation about the social-political situation in the country,” he says. “If you want to produce good work, you need time to settle in and be comfortable in a place.”

When he arrives at a new place, he will