Where are you from and how did you get into street photography?
I live in Verona, a beautiful and lively Italian city, rich in art. I started shooting street photography mainly because I am attracted by everyday life, by the real life of people.
In your opinion, what makes a street photograph “good”?
In my opinion, a photograph is good when it manages to “intercept” people – a small gesture, the expression of a face, a particular situation. If I succeed in this thing, at the same time, I also communicate my vision of things.
Are there any street photographers in particular that you draw inspiration from?
I admire many masters of street photography, but I will mention two, one for black and white images and the other for their use of color. For B&W, my photographer of reference is Gianni Berengo Gardin, for the color I love the work of Alex Webb. I consider GBG a photographer-poet, Alex Webb instead is the archetype of the modern street photographer.
Where is your favorite place to take photographs and why?
I don’t have a favorite place, I take photographs wherever I am, but I’m not a big traveler so most of my photos are taken in Italy.
What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced in street photography and how have you overcome them?
The biggest problem was to photograph people without them noticing, spontaneity would be lost. Today, I can say I have overcome this problem because I realized that most people don’t mind being photographed at all.
What is your most memorable moment or photo from street photography?
The best time for me is to photograph early in the morning or in the evening, in those moments there is the best light. I am fortunate to live in Italy where the weather is good for most of the year, even in winter there are very bright days.
What has street photography taught you?
Street Photography has taught me to observe life with different eyes, to capture the aspect, from time to time, dramatic, ironic, funny, surreal moments of life; it taught me to grasp what often goes unnoticed; it taught me to change my normal point of view.
Editor’s Note: To learn more about Roberto and see more of his work, be sure to visit his Flickr photostream. Roberto was selected from our Flickr group (Street Photography Magazine), where we regularly choose photographers’ work to be published in our magazine.