Giangiacomo Pepe

Nude is still a taboo! Giangiacomo Pepe is a Genova, Italy born photographer and in fact he still lives and works there. Having enjoyed numerous publications so far he’s involved in a personal study of naked photography in black and white film. His work is what you would call NSFW, it’s basically nude portraits of girls and details that he enjoys shooting more and I mean why not. His pictures always manage to carry his signature and bring across the intimacy he is after.

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KALTBLUT: When did you start photographing? What made you start? How did you develop this kind of style?

Giangiacomo: 4 or 5 years ago someone gave me an old film Nikon that I continuously used for two weeks. Mainly I used to photograph my ex-girlfriend and then I continued, first buying a digital camera, to come back to film soon. I never had to think about what to photograph, I used to shoot what I saw, my deliriums and my evenings and parties and I think that this story started from there. Going on I focused mainly on nudes and personal and intimate situations, obviously I shoot everything, but I prefer this kind of situations because I think they’re normal for me.

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KALTBLUT: Why do you choose to depict the body in the nude? What does nudity mean to you? Is it still a taboo?

Giangiacomo: As I said I always photographed in this way, so it has been a natural journey, almost an oblivious study of nudes. I like the female body, the details, the oblivious gestures of a girl, like a foot resting in a specific way, a belly crease, the reflection of a body…I think that this is the truth and I try to stop (and capture) this like I see it. Obviously this choice to make mainly nudes has its consequences, so I discovered I was clashing to a totally primitive point of view. And yes, nude is still a taboo for sure!

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KALTBLUT: How do you think people react to your art? As expected? Anything that ever surprised you in someone’s reaction?

Giangiacomo: Once in a magazine my photos have been classified as “porn”. When I saw this thing I tried to look at my works as a normal person, who sees my pictures, and I didn’t know what to think…certainly someone likes them and someone says they’re vulgar and expected, that they taste of something already seen…but I think that people should look at these calmly, ,without judging immediately upon the first look, these photos should be understood. They’re moments, instants that I shoot as I see. Something really curious is that girls and women love my pictures, this really surprises and gratifies me at the same time.

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KALTBLUT: What is coming next for you? Is there anything you really want to shoot next? Or how will you continue?

Giangiacomo: Future? At the moment I’m working on some projects, mainly on 3 different books with 3 different models. I’m still studying on this project and it will be out near the end of summer and then we will see…I have had many ideas recently. I’d also like to photograph the suburbs of my city, they’re places with a strange charm, immense squares who recount everything and nothing. However times are pretty long when shooting with film, so I’m taking all the time I need for now, especially for these projects.

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Interview by Amanda M. Jansson

Contact:

giangiacomopepe.tumblr.com
giangiacomopepe.bigcartel.com
twitter.com/giangiacomopepe
@Facebook

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