Artist from Italy
Born in Bari (Puglia, South of Italy) in 1983, Alessandro Carbonara is a pharmacist by profession, photographer for passion.
He began taking photographs when only film existed, in a completely casual and unconscious manner at around 10 years of age. A few more decades later, it was photography that chose him, since his passion, which has survived the transition from analogue to digital, leads him to hold the camera when he is not wearing a lab coat.
He seeks perfection in the individual shot, but since perfection does not exist he will always have a reason to shoot.
He takes advantage of the light and studies the scene, because in the course of life one has to give more value to the essential.

INTERVIEW with Alessandro Carbonara
Carmela Loiacono talks with Alessandro Carbonara who takes part with his photos series “Breath” in the International Art Exhibition STORIES OF IDENTITY – From hidden places to daily life in Matera, at cultural hypogeum Lega Navale Italiana Matera-Magna Grecia.
Carmela Loiacono – Please introduce yourself and talk about the selected works you exhibited during the exhibition STORIES OF IDENTITY – From hidden places to daily life.
Alessandro Carbonara – I’m a photographer for passion and pharmacist by profession. Firstly I was to thank you, Carmela Loiacono, the curator of the exhibition, for the possibility you gave me.
Regarding the context of the photos, I wanted to play on the words of the exhibition title “Stories of Identity”. The story as a time span that wants to tell something, in which something happens. I decided to tile the four artworks: “Breath”, because the time span, in which the entire composition takes place, is that of a complete respiratory act. So about a few second when something happens. The identity can normally be represented by a series of elements, which are intended to define something or someone in a certain way. However, since photography is a form of art and in art it’s good to step outside the box. In this case on the concept of identity, I preferred that the identity of the individuals shown in the photos was hidden. In fact, the main exposure is the landscape, as a result, the figures are underexposed, so they aren’t recognizable, because in this case identity should not only be what the subject represented in the photo has to tell, but also it should be the identity from the point of view of the viewer. So consequently I like to imagine that anyone can identify with the couple in the photos, whom I firstly don’t know. I took these photos in Monopoli on the harbor and I like the idea that any of us can imagine being there, present at that moment. In this scene something happens. We can imagine that they could be a married couple just taking a walk. The peculiarity comes from the fact that they aren’t in all four photos together, but for example in the first photo where the woman walks alone and then she’s joined later by her husband and they stop and look in the same direction. So there is also something, a storytelling that I leave to free interpretation in the eyes of the viewer of photo’s sequence.
Carmela Loiacono – How would you describe your creative process? What or who influenced or is influencing your work?
Alessandro Carbonara – I always try to convey some emotion, I don’t want photography to simply be a photocopy of reality. There must be something more to what I do, and my photographic tool must become an extension of both my eye and my mind. The vision must create an expansion in the instant it is conceived. I would like to be the drop that creates circles in the ocean, which although losing intensity as they expand, continue to influence everything they encounter on their journey.
I do not have a single source of inspiration. I want to be inspired and contaminated by everything around me. I don’t want to have any limits.
Carmela Loiacono – What do you think about shared art on social media? Could it be an alternative way of communicating contemporary art?
Alessandro Carbonara – We are children of our past, but we live projected into the future. Social media are our calling card and should therefore be used in the best possible way. Yes. Social reaches further than our voice.
Carmela Loiacono – What are your future goals and/or projects?
Alessandro Carbonara – I would like to try to make a recognisable mark in my photography by continuing to study, reinterpret or create unconventional genres. During this quest for maturity, I will continue to exhibit my photo-works by collecting feedback from my observers.











More about Alessandro Carbonara: alessandrocarbonara.photo