We have the pleasure of introducing graphic designer and photographer Ruben Frosali. Ruben is from Italy (near Florence) and now lives in Tokyo. Ruben is a talented photographer, but doesn’t consider himself a professional. I think a lot of people will be interested in what Ruben has to talk about, so let’s get to it. >>>Read past interviews
ephotos: Why did you choose to move to Tokyo?
RF: Japan is a country that has always had a deep influence upon me since I was a kid, however it wasn't the typical, traditional image of the land of the rising sun what I was interested in. What was really compelling to me was Tokyo, the big metropolis, a high-density urban area with tens of millions of people. A place, that in the mind of a kid living in a small town in the middle of Italy was the point where William Gibson's cyberpunk, Akira and Blade Runner could become reality.
Many years later I finally had occasion to visit Japan. It was not the cyberpunk world I used to imagine when I was a kid, but, nonetheless, it was a very interesting place. I decided to learn Japanese and came back again to Tokyo, this time for three months.
When, quite luckily, I found a job as graphic designer/flash developer in Tokyo I finally made my decision to move to Japan, partly because I thought it would be an interesting experience, but also a way to start a new chapter in my life.
ephotos: How often do you return to Italy?
RF: Usually once a year, and it's somehow a shock when I do. Living far from your home country gives you a different perspective on it, and you start to miss, and appreciate many things you just took for granted...including pasta and pizza.
ephotos: Tell us a bit about your background and training in design.
RF: On design, I'm mostly a self-taught person. My formal training is in computer science: algorithms, databases and so on. Choosing that field helped me to define what I really wanted to do in my life, and definitely wasn't computer science. I began studying web design, desktop publishing, 3D and photo manipulation by myself, and it wasn't so uncommon to skip classes just to have more time to do it.
As soon as I finished school I started a design company with a friend. We had completely no idea how to run a business and sometimes we had a pretty rough time, however after a while worked quite well. I can say my real formal training in design was that, trying to run a design company with a little knowledge of design, with new clients to find and taxes to pay…well, that's quite an incentive to learn…and quickly! Still, after a while running a design company in a small town was not the most thrilling experience, so we decided to try something new and took our own way.
ephotos: What inspired you to start taking pictures?
RF: I started taking photography more seriously a few months ago, and what inspired me was probably what I was seeing everyday. An old man selling magazine on the street, a desolate and decadent alley or two friends smoking a cigarette waiting to cross the street. Tokyo is a huge and very inspiring city. Amazing things are happening everyday and everywhere, happy things, sad things, sometimes very subtle and difficult to see, other times extraordinary and vivid. Instinctively I knew I couldn't let these moments pass and fade away. That's basically why I bought a camera and started taking pictures. Actually, I'm more interested in wandering around, trying to capture a particular moment/atmosphere when I see it, than attempt to take the perfect shot.
ephotos: Do you have a favorite photographer? If so, what about his or her work do you like?
RF: There are many photographers I like, but probably Cartier-Bresson is my favorite because I never get tired of one of his exhibitions, and I constantly get lost in each one of his pictures. I think I spent hours at an exhibition exploring some of his pictures like the one with the three Kashmir women praying towards the mountains. Another artist I admire for his style, although not a photographer, is Chris Cunningham. His imagination and vision is absolutely fascinating, the detachment from the subjects and the coldness of his imagery completely stunning.
ephotos: You say that you are not a professional photographer, are you thinking about moving in that direction?
RF: Currently I have a full time job that leaves me little free time to dedicate to photography. I'm considering going freelance in the near future, and I'll certainly have more time to study photography and think about that. First of all, before even thinking to become a professional photographer, I need to become a better photographer. There are still a lot of things I need to work on. What's very likely in the near future is that I'm going to use more and more my photographic skills in my graphic design, and that could be an interesting mix.
ephotos: You have a lot of photoshop experience, do you think that retouching and manipulation have a negative effect on photography?
RF: Nowadays, many photographers are using digital cameras, and even software like Adobe Lightroom lets you retouch and enhance photos in a way never possible before with film and darkrooms. That means that every photographer, in a more or less degree, is "cheating", retouching and manipulating photos. However, talking about heavy retouching and manipulation…well it's just like applying make-up. You can polish a beautiful photo and turn it into an awesome piece of art or, more often, overdo your retouches and create a horrible abomination in Photoshop. It's always shocking to see on some magazines, one of those hyper unreal and very retouched photo of a young lady with spooky white teeth, hairs vanishing in the forehead and Gaussian Blur all over the skin.
Personally, I've never had any dogma and if a photo is good, manipulated or not, congratulations to the photographer.
ephotos: What camera and lenses do you use?
RF: Nikon D80 (usually in shutter mode) and 90% of the time I use prime lenses because that gives me more low-light capability.
The Sigma 30mm 1.4 is my default lens, almost always on the camera, followed by a Nikkor 50mm 1.4. I also have a Sigma 10-20mm, funny to use but it's not so versatile, and the 18-70 lens kit (that I'm probably replacing with a 18-200 vr soon).
ephotos: Have you thought about licensing your images through a stock agency?
RF: Yes, recently I was considering this option. I was also thinking to set up a small studio in my apartment only to take some photos for microstock. Being a graphic designer I know what kind of pictures graphic designers need, and producing this kind of shots is something I definitely have to try.
ephotos: You seem to travel quite a bit, where have you been lately?
RF: Actually, not as much as I'd like. My last trip outside Japan has been to Hong Kong, an incredible country, a city of contrasts I'd love to explore more. Without doubt, there are many places I want to visit in Asia, and as soon as I quit my current job, I'm going to spend many months traveling, exploring and taking photos.
ephotos: What do you think about what we are doing at ephotos?
RF: It looks a pretty good idea and I'm quite positive there will be strong community support soon. And since I'm a nice guy and want to contribute, I have a little surprise for all the photographers using pixelpost and ephotos. I'm releasing in the next days a pixelpost add-on to send your photos from your photoblog to myephotos.
ephotos: Cool, thank you, we will be looking forward to that!
ephotos: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about you and your work?
RF: I started taking photos a few months ago, and day-by-day photography has become a part of my life. I don't know if I'll become a professional photographer and I'll make some money from my shots one day or it will remain just a hobby. What's sure is that I'll never lose interest in photography and I'll never put my camera in a box and forget it somewhere.
ephotos: We enjoyed talking to you and appreciate you taking the time tell us about your work. We look forward to big things from you and as always, keep the focus!