Lucia Buricelli is a photographer from Venice, Italy. She started taking pictures when she was 16 years old, mostly focusing on street photography. The first picture she took was a flock of pigeons. Buricelli graduated from the New Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, Italy with a degree in Graphic Design and Art Direction. In 2016, after a road trip through Bosnia, she decided to focus on the full time photography. In 2017, she moved to New York to study the Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism program at the International Center of Photography.
Can you tell us a little bit about your hometown?
I am born and I grew up in Venice, Italy. I left it when I was 18 years old and I recently came back here for while. Venice is a unique and special place. It is here that I started taking pictures and where I realized my passion for street photography. In Venice you can’t drive or ride a bicycle. This means you have to walk around or take the boat. In this way you get to have a “ slower view” at the world.
What is your favorite travel destination?
I don’t really have a favorite travel destination. I have never been to a place multiples times. I would like to travel all around the world one day. Maybe right now I would like to go back to New York City, since I lived there for two years and visit a friend in Brazil. I enjoy visiting new places, but at the same time I also love stay in a place for long and document how life in that place is changing and developing.
What was the turning point in your career?
The turning point in my career was moving to New York. I discovered a whole new world related to the photo field and where I embrace the possibility that this could be a career.
Your advice to someone who is reading this and wants to be a photographer?
I think the best thing you can do to become a photographer is to work hard and take pictures everyday. Always have a camera with you (also a phone) and take pictures. I think it is all about practice. And also look at other people’s work, in Instagram you can find a lot of inspirations. But also in books and exhibitions. Another important thing I believe is to try to connect with other people in your same field.
What inspires your work?
I have a lot of inspirations. Some of them are the work of other photographers like Martin Parr, David Williams, and many others. I remember one day in class under the suggestion of a teacher I came up with the work of David Williams and I immediately loved the flash and also his use of colors. From that moment I decided I wanted to use a flash and he remained one of my favorite photographers. I am also a huge Beatles fan, and the energy they give to me with their music, their colorful albums are also a big inspiration for me. I also really enjoy looking at the work of illustrators and designers.
Can you describe your photography in three words?
Color, everyday, life
Do you remember the exact moment when you understood you wanted to become a photographer?
I started taking pictures when I was 16 years old and for a long time the only kind of photography that existed for me was street photography. At the time I didn’t conceive the possibility that this could be a Job so at the moment of picking the university I decided to study Graphic design and art direction because I thought that could open more doors in the work field (I always kept taking pictures on the side). Was when I was 20, during a trip to Bosnia that I realized my passion for photojournalism and documentary photography. In that moment I decided that this had to be my career. I graduated from university and moved to New York.
What was your dream job in childhood?
When I was a kid I really wanted to be a journalist. Until middle school I enjoyed writing stories and poems. I discovered photography when I was 16 years old.
Do you think instagram is a positive or negative thing for photography?
I think Instagram has both positive and negative sides. For one thing, as I mention before, you can find a lot of inspirations and a lot of great work from other photographers and artists.
On the other hand, I think it’s better to not spend too much time in Instagram but rather living the real life. I mostly use it as a tool to find inspiration and to get work. People can easily find you there. But at the same time I need to take breaks from it sometimes because it gets overwhelming.
What do you think about the ruthless competition in the world of photography? How to emerge?
I think some healthy competition can be good and it is kind of normal. I think that if you care about what you do in particularly in a field where there is a limited amount of work there is nothing wrong to be a little competitive. In the end we all want to get work and we all have to work hard to get it. But I hate the hateful competition, the mean one, I think nobody is gonna really emerge being a bully to someone else. I am glad that most of times I always found support from my peers and I have always tried to be supportive too. I think probably the best way to emerge is to build friendships with people who share your same interests and not definitely have hard feelings for them.
Concrete or abstract?
I love photographing real life and spontaneous moments but at the same time I enjoy those pictures that take your mind in another space and they are not immediately clear about what is going on in the picture. So I will say combine them it is the best.
What value do colors take on in your photographs? Is there any photographer who inspires you?
Colors have an incredible importance in my work. Colors play an important role in both what I decide to photograph and also in my editing process. I often sequence and pair pictures thinking about how the colors fit together.
What fascinates you about street photography?
I love street photography. I like the spontaneous part related to it, walking for hours looking and searching for something that will caught your eye and that not always you are going to find, but when you do you feel incredibly happy. I like the variety of subjects it brings with itself, from people to animals to objects and buildings. I am particularly fascinated and interested in street photography that takes place in urban environments and becomes a documentation of urban spaces. You can look at some great street photography check NYCSPC and Women street photography collective.
Pigeons of Venice are usually the subjects of your pictures, why do you like to represent them?
Pigeons are ones of the most fellow residents of Venice. Since I picked up a camera for the first time years ago one of my first subject was a flock of pigeons. In Venice in particular pigeons are really friendly their behaviors really caught my attention. I generally enjoyed photographing wild animals and pigeons often have funny and bizarre behaviors.