I was born in Italy in a little village on the Campania Apennines in the province of Salerno. The village is dedicated to agriculture, sheep-farming and has much emigration. I had a joyful and carefree childhood, in a bucolic environment, characterized by the customs and habits of rural culture.
My first meeting with photography was at the age of 13 in high school thanks to a young teacher, who held a Black and White photography course. It was pure magic. Later, I attended the Art School Architecture and Interior Designers. In this period, my older brother gave me a Canon AV1. My first reflex camera that I preserve carefully until today. I started shooting some photos, but I was more interested in painting, sculpture and design. When I moved to Naples to study sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts, I had the possibility to attend a photography course given by Mimmo Jodice, a great Italian photographer. I was highly interested by his work, bought his books and my passion for photography started to grew since then.
Unfortunately a dramatic event changed my life forever: On November 23, 1980, at 19:20, a violent earthquake took place in Southern Italy claiming about 3000 victims and erasing an entire region . My village was totally destroyed and among the victims were my father’ my grandparents and several other relatives. My world collapsed, I was broken. I interrupted my studies and involved myself in the reconstruction of those areas.
During this time, many volunteers came to help. I was struck by a Swiss girl, first volunteering and then hired by the Red Cross Switzerland. We soon became friends, we all needed affection in those days, and we fell in love. After two years we decided to move to Switzerland, near Basel. We married and our daughter, Piera, was born. She was a blessing and became the main subject of many of my photographs.
With my first salaries, I bought a new reflex camera Canon AE1 and set up a Dark Room. I began to develop and print my work in black and white. BW portrait of myself was ranked third in a competition organized by the Italian Consulate of Basel. With the Award I bought a Polaroid to experiment more. My interest for photography grew more and more. I bought many books, studied and followed exhibitions. Soon I bought a new Polaroid, the Image System, a Nikon F3 and a Nikon F4 with several lenses.
But my biggest dream was to attend a School of Photography. We must always believe in our dreams: in fact the circumstances of life took us to Ticino, Switzerland, 60 km away from Milano. I took a break from work went to the Italian Institute of Photography in Milano: Reportage, Portrait, Fashion and Still-Life, study of technique and photography history. I practised a lot with 10x15 cm Optical Bench Photography and Studio Flash.
When I finished school I collaborated with an artist for the reproduction of his sculptures and paintings, and I also took pictures of ceremonies. Photographing in the daytime and developing at night, there was no time left to do the things I liked the most.
Because of the arrival of digital and the exorbitant costs of the equipment, I decided to look for another job. After several experiences I got a job at a Swiss shoe company as Computer Aided Design operator and photographer. I still work there today and in my free time I can cultivate my great passions: photography, mountaineering and travelling.