Marco Castoldi

I was born in 1982 in the outskirts of Milan, Italy, where I am currently living. I shoot around 20 photographs a year, mainly in my homeland, focusing on the very areas surrounding the place where I live. Thinking that such a low number of pictures takes a negligible amount of time would be a big mistake: I spend all the rest of year pursuing those twenty images: a successful picture is the final result of personal experience which embodies a deep connection with the subject. Therefore I believe that photography is a kind of an "off-camera cultural activity" which, at the very end only, produces the picture as an output. If not, how could one reveal his own viewpoint without just acknowledging what he (so everybody) already knows?
I also believe that the "meaning" of a picture (the aura) relies on its use, as Susan Sontag stated. So the photographer should not be so naïve to ignore the relation between his image and the viewer: that issue, of providing a satisfactory experience while seeing, could be fulfilled only if we intend the photograph as a material object, which could be addressed with awareness to specific beholders under regulated conditions (dimensions, technique, environment...). That's why I crafts myself unique ...