In a short time in the world of horse lovers a small artistic revolution has occurred: a Roman photographer began publishing shots "with soul" - sports photography from the heart.
Massimo Argenziano, the author of this new approach, comes from a background of artistic photographer and for years he supervised the development and printing of artists photography, and he had photographed works of art on behalf of galleries and museums. His is a life spent in high technology, testing and attention to detail and framing.
His father had founded a photo lab in the center of Rome in 1975 and the arrival of Massimo in the family was characterized by his love for the challenges of digital images. A combination of art and technology that has brought him in contact with important artists each of whom instilled in him a special sensitivity in capturing the emotions of the people and, in turn, in arousing others.
We met him at his home in Rocca di Papa just near the Vivaro, the legendary Federal equestrian center known throughout the world for its competitive hills, and asked him the history of Sports Photography, his popular Facebook page.
Massimo, how did you start to sports photography?
I began to love sport because I had the good fortune to play sports at a competitive level since childhood. At 6 years, I started to learn swimming at the sports center of the CONI Acqua Acetosa in Rome, I went for years with this sports career before moving to water polo.
I have lived and breathed the air that you breathe in high-level competitions for up to 20 years, and I never missed an opportunity to practice or live close to sport and that's why I raised my children to sport by giving it a very important educational role.
When my daughter moved to Germany, I had time to observe what was going on around me during a race: moods, concentration, tension, joy, and then I decided to enrich my work as a photographer with the passions of my life: sports, horses and photography.
Photography is a passion, a job or just a hobby?
Mainly for me, photography is a profession for 37 years and passion has been transmitted to me by my father. To verify the level of satisfaction of my sports photography I first created a profile "that is not associated to my name in order to have a judgment is not influenced by my personality."
From anonymity to the stage: what happened?
I heard it said that my pictures were different from the others, something that gratifies me more than to make a good photograph, and this has convinced me to persist. Feeling being a sports photographer and measuring myself in the international arena, it was natural to combine the world of sport with the profession that I do during the week, one that is more geared to the art world.
My photos are in the Press Gallery of the FEI, the Italian Federation, and Federations of other countries and I am pleased that others are following my way to catch the excitement of a race and not just the technicalities of the most talented riders.
What is your way of working, what advice would you give to anyone who wants to learn how to photograph with adrenaline?
One piece of advice I can give to those who want to take pictures that create emotions is to be curious, look around yourself, study the behavior of people who are part of the context that you will photograph, but mostly deal with emotional involvement.
“If you do not look to emotions in a photograph taken by you how can you think it might be a thrill for others?”
Then there are the rewards: the photo I'm most fond of is definitely one made during a lap of honor by the Team of Spain after winning the "FEI Nation Cup" in Montelibretti. Thanks to that picture I was contacted the next year by an important agency for the International FEI account to photograph the lap of honor of the team that would win the next edition.
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