Giacomo Brunelli, Untitled from the series Eternal London, 2012-2013 © Giacomo Brunelli
Courtesy of the artist and The Photographers’ Gallery, London
To make his photographs of London, Giacomo Brunelli walked the city streets for many hours a day. He began around 9 in the morning, waiting patiently for something that sparked his interest. Often it was a hat, or a beautiful piece of clothing, and he would begin to follow its wearer, across the street, along a pavement, over a bridge, until snap – he’d take a shot of his prey, then another, until he was satisfied. He did this every day for two years, covering five, sometimes six miles a day.
‘Walking is part of my photography’ he says. ‘You need to walk to create the chance of finding things that interest you.’ The images he produced will be published in a book this month, alongside an exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery. They are part of a commission by the Print Sales team, who spotted a gap in the market for images of the city that sit outside the classic tourist fare. Gemma Barnett, Print sales Manager recalls that ‘Over the years we have received regular requests for artistic photographs of London. Brunelli employed a film-noir aesthetic in his acclaimed series “The Animals” and it occurred to us that this would be an interesting palette for the city.’
Giacomo Brunelli, Untitled from the series Eternal London, 2012-2013 © Giacomo Brunelli
Courtesy of the artist and The Photographers’ Gallery, London
Brunelli, 36, was born in Perugia, but has lived in London for almost six years. He admits that when he began the series on London he didn’t know where to start. ‘I had photographed Rome when I was living there, but since then I had been working on my Animals series, and that way of photographing was the opposite of what was required of me for street photography, where you are looking for the context of people in the city.’
He knew he wanted London to be recognisable, ‘so I started my walks around famous landmarks like Big Ben, the Tower of London, St Paul’s; historical areas like Mayfair, St. James’s and I kept going back to those places over and over again. I think I spent three months around Tower Bridge. That routine helped in a way.’
Brunelli was fortunate that the first few shots he took – one that included the back of a policeman’s head, and another in front of a church – he liked. ‘The idea was build the series around those images.’
Giacomo Brunelli, Untitled from the series Eternal London, 2012-2013 © Giacomo Brunelli
Courtesy of the artist and The Photographers’ Gallery, London
Although he enjoys capturing people unawares, Brunelli has to act fast. He uses his father’s old Miranda camera – a 35mm SLR manufactured in Japan during the 1950s and 60s – which makes an incredible noise when the shutter is pressed. ‘Once they realise I’m there, they become my actors and it’s no longer spontaneous. I only ever manage 2 or 3 pictures.’
His father was an amateur photographer, and kept the Miranda in his desk drawer. ‘I found it when I was 20. It was very heavy and a beautiful object – I think I became interested in the object before I was interested in what it could do.’ Having graduated from university after studying communications, he took a six month course in photojournalism in Rome. ‘It was fascinating to me, this traditional idea of photojournalism on the streets; shooting in black and white, with its very violent approach to the subject.’
Rather than heading for the frontline in remote parts of the world, he used the skills he had acquired to track down animals, shooting them in a noir-ish style that made them seem singled out or stopped in their tracks, sometimes startled. ‘I grew up surrounded by animals in Perugia, a very green part of Italy, so I used to look for animals, chasing them. I think when I picked up a camera I just wanted to play with them, to have fun. Probably that’s why I push the lens very close.’
Giacomo Brunelli, Untitled from the series Eternal London, 2012-2013 © Giacomo Brunelli
Courtesy of the artist and The Photographers’ Gallery, London
I love Giacomo’s work and he’s doing it again, capturing poetry in black and white.
I bow to his talent.