Henri Cartier-Bresson. William Klein. Bruno Barbey. Then again, Elliot Erwitt, Richard Kalvar, Charles H. Traub. Many masters of international photography have honored our city. Their reportages are part of the history of documentary photography and still, looking at those beautiful photographs, we can understand a lot of social life, the virtues and even the miseries, of the history and identities of the Romans.
It is very interesting to observe especially the work done by foreign photographers who have shown they know how to grasp certain nuances typical of living in the Dolce Vita city that only those who are in Rome are able to recognize. Shooting in the street requires a special sensitivity and a living by immerging in the endless stories that only a public space is able to show, and Rome in this sense is a city in many ways ideal for the street photographer, preserving a certain grim kingship due to a long history you can find just about anywhere, but at the same time with a popular soul that still reminds us to the masterpieces of Rossellini and Pasolini.
Rome is a city constantly changing yet always loyal to itself, not forgetting its history, starting right from the character of the Roman, friendly and positive, with a verve and a special humor, sometimes, in a sense, bad,as also showed by Alberto Sordi.
For a documentary photographer, Rome is a magical city, that can be majestic and at the same time timid.For a reportage photographer like me, born and raised in the capital but now residing in Mexico, on my return in 2013 I was surprised to catch aspects that previously was not doing case. For example, the speak loud and certain typical expressions that now as Italian, a Roman a little bit foreigner, I have the sensation to get out of a movie by Carlo Verdone or one with Gigi Proietti.
Back in May for a series of workshops dedicated to street photography and two will be given in Rome. For the Rome Central friends we have a special offer: a discount of 10% for those who contact me and specify that have read the article on this magazine. It will be the opportunity for photographers who join to see Rome with different eyes, behind a camera, dedicated to achieving documentary photographs to do a particular portrait of the Eternal City. Those interested can contact me by email at: alex@alexcoghe.com
Find all information about my workshops Italians here: http://www.alexcoghe.com/street-photography-workshops-in-italia/
Born in Rome (Italy), Alex Coghe is a photojournalist, publisher, writer and street photographer, currently based in Mexico. He started taking photographs at age 10, with cheap point & shoots, photographing urban landscapes, but his inclination was for documentary and social photography and started in 2009 to get serious thanks to street photography. Since 2010 he moved to Mexico where he began photographing a new and surreal world in Mexico City, but always through a documentary eye. In those years he collaborated with several newspapers, online magazines and agencies. Some articles from politics to culture were published for La Stampa, Il Giornale, and he was correspondent from Mexico for Prisma News and L’Indro.
In 2011 he participated to the photography show You Are Here, a competition/exhibition in Los Angeles, California, an event sponsored by Leica. Exactly from that experience he start a collaboration with Leica Camera AG for The Leica Camera Blog, interviewing worldwide photographers. In 2013 he worked on assignment for Leica Camera AG, realizing the documentary project “People of Chapultepec” published worldwide in the Leica X brochure. All over these years he has worked for prestigious clients like Samsung, Burberry and at the same time coming to realize an important experience in social photography for Basilica de Guadalupe thanks to the work on assignment dedicated to Villa Mujeres, a home hosting people abandoned in the streets.
He has published among others on Lens Culture, Witness Journal, Il Messaggero, Doc!, Photowoa, The Phoblographer, Cuartoscuro, and Excelsior. His work so far was exhibited in several collective shows from Los Angeles to Miami, from Barcelona to Hamburg arriving to exhibit his work also in a theater in Rome.
As a commercial photographer he is specialized in editorial photography, fashion, erotic and portrait photography, working with several models and clients. As a publisher Alex Coghe is currently editor of the electronic magazines THE STREET PHOTOGRAPHER NOTEBOOK and Louÿs. Alex is writer (with many books published about photography technique) and photographer, because he thinks that currently both pathways are closely related. He loves the streets and people: the contact with people is something he loves of his profession. He is also giving photography workshops and photo tours in Mexico and all over the world, thanks to the fact he speaks 3 languages: Italian, English and Spanish. For Alex Coghe, photography is a creative act that goes beyond a simple click.
https://t.co/4iBLy9dvVZ Un articoLo su Roma e la Street… https://t.co/jOy7VU4eK6