Introduction to Alessandro Sarno. 1:19 min. Interview: Raymond Elman. Post-Production: Sophia Bolivar. Music: Ana Camacaro Gomez. Recorded via Zoom. 11/30/2022, Miami.
ALESSANDRO SARNO is a Milan based artist who began his journey into photography in 2008 in the Bahamas, where he purchased his first camera. While there, he captured images that documented a transformative personal experience as he was introduced to the deeply spiritual and colorful Bahamian cultural traditions.
Sarno has published several coffee table books of his photographs, including “Miami – Contemporary Visions from a Tropical Jungleland”(2022), “Eleuthera: The Garden of Freedom” (2021), “Junkanoo-The Spirit of a People”(2017), “Cat Island – Diamonds and Rust” (2021), and “Exumas – The Kingdom of Blue” (2020),
The videos below were recorded via Zoom, are organized by Success Factor, and run between 30 seconds and 4 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.
EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES: 1:05 min.
What’s your earliest memory of art of any discipline?
EMPATHY: 1:23 min.
You said the main subject of your drawings when you were young was cowboys fighting Indians, and the Indians always won. That is an unusual perspective for a young boy.
DEVELOP A VOICE: 1:12 min.
You grew up in Italy, how did you become so engaged with the United States?
DEVELOP A VOICE: 3:51 min.
When did you become involved in photography?
CREATIVE FLEXIBILITY: 4:05 min.
As you gained experience as a photographer, did you develop strategies for what you would capture, or did you photograph serendipitously?
COLLABORATION: 0:28 sec.
What design tools are you using to produce your books?
PERSEVERANCE FURTHERS: 4:19 min.
Describe the evolution of your skills as a photographer. What do you think are your strengths?
CREATIVE FLEXIBILITY: 0:50 sec.
What are your thoughts about phone cameras?
SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES: 1:36 min.
Although you are Italian, your books are written in English. How did you develop your English language skills?
CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND: 1:22 min
I find your writing in English to be quite lyrical.
PERSEVERANCE FURTHERS: 4:04 min
How did you meet Lesley Goldwasser, who owns The Betsy Hotel with her husband Jonathan Plutzik, and curates their photography collection?
INSIGHT & INSPIRATION: 0:52 sec.
The Betsy Hotel was redesigned by Diamante Pederosoli + Carmelina Santoro, two interior architects who grew up in Italy. They made The Betsy feel like an Upper East Side Manhattan apartment
CRITICAL THINKING: 2:11 min.
What kind of work did you do before you changed your focus to photography?
COMMUNITY VALUES: 1:11 min
The renowned photographer Joel Meyerowitz mounted an outdoor exhibition of his photographs, printed on vinyl and enlarged to a huge size, on Deauville Beach in Normandy.
CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND: 0:24 sec.
Is your photography mainly focused on Miami and the Bahamas so far?
CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND: 1:42 min.
Do you feel like the nature of the photographs that you’ve taken in Miami and the Bahamas is similar in feel and quality or has something changed as you accumulate experience?
INSIGHT & INSPIRATION: 1:56 min
As you emersed yourself in photography, were there any photographers that you admired and tried to emulate?
CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND: 1:55 min.
What are your criteria for selecting photographs for your books?
