Flashback

Photographer Paolo di Paolo remembers seizing a chance to shoot Charlotte Rampling in Sardinia, 1966

THIS PHOTOGRAPH grew out of my desire to get to know Ms Rampling, whose screen presence always led me to believe she was a particularly intriguing person. We met in Sardinia in 1966, where she was filming Sardinia Kidnapped with the director Gianfranco Mingozzi.

I found her in the deserted lobby of the hotel where she was staying in a small town in Barbagia, an area famous for its bandits. She was sunk deep into an armchair and crouching under a mastruca – a kind of fur coat worn by shepherds.

I sat across from her without saying anything and observed her, almost as if I hadn’t noticed she was there. She acted equally indifferent towards me. Then she began to move. She slowly struck various poses, staring at me with a penetrating gaze full of erotic tension; completely silent.

Just as slowly, I opened the bag with my photo equipment, pulled out a Nikon and rested it on the arm of my chair. Then I went back to watching with an air of indifference. That was when she struck [this] pose. I brought the Nikon to my eye and snapped five or six shots – no more. I put the camera back in my bag, got up and headed to the exit without saying goodbye. My meeting with Charlotte Rampling was over after 10 minutes.

The next week, when she was in Rome, she tried to phone me. I was abroad and learnt about it after I got back. Then I ran into the film’s press agent, who asked, ‘What happened with you and Rampling? Did you take photographs of her?’ I responded, ‘Yes, just one, and it may be the most intense photograph there could ever be of an actress like her.’

Spontaneity like that is the result of the photographer’s lack of professionalism. A professional is conditioned by the tools of the trade, technical rules and experience. Those dampen the emotion in a situation. I’ve always considered myself an amateur; I took photos for pleasure. Any occasion, glamorous or austere, could generate a good photo, as long as I was excited as I was taking it.

I was never told the impression Rampling had of our encounter. I was quite sure she never saw my picture because it wasn’t published. I didn’t see her again, but I would very much have liked to.

As a photographer for Il Mondo, an economics, politics and culture magazine that reflected and generated change, my life revolved around experiencing a unique historical moment [the 1960s]. I could feel when that time was coming to an end.

After Il Mondo shut [in 1966], there was no longer an outlet to express myself freely and without ideological restrictions or financial burden. The newspapers and magazines that survived were devoted to scoops and scandals.

There was another, more personal reason why I walked away from photography [in the late 1960s] . I’d been struck by Greta Garbo’s decision to stop making films without any explanation. It was a clear-cut, conscious, honest decision. We all start to decline, and it’s always a bitter moment. Greta Garbo didn’t want to experience that. In my own small way, I took my cue from her.

— Interview by Bethan Holt

Paolo di Paolo. Mondo Perduto (Lost World) opens at Rome’s MAXXI National Museum of the 21st Century Arts on 17 April. The exhibition and accompanying book have been supported by Gucci

I responded, ‘It may be the most intense photograph there could ever be of an actress like her’

Paolo di Paolo chanced upon Charlotte Rampling in an empty hotel lobby