Sara Sani

Sara Sani is an Italian photographer who has been living and working in Barcelona for the past few years. She got into shooting pictures after borrowing her mum’s old manual reflex and continues to obsess over film using a variety of 35mm point-and-shoots to capture everyday moments, friends and adventures.

Sara’s shot a ton of rad skaters, artists and musicians – like Tommy Guerrero, Nassim Guammaz, Patrick O’Dell and The Bots – for a ton of rad European titles – like Lamono and Bitchslap – as well as numerous fashion stories for brands and editorial. But her most revealing work is her fly-on-the-wall documentation of friends and fun times as seen recently in Igor Termenón’s Girls On Film ‘zine and Stussy’s Under The Radar exhibition in Chicago, where her work hung alongside visual Gs like Lance Mountain, Curtis Buchanan and Andy Mueller.

We caught up with the opportunistic shooter recently to find out what inspires her to keep capturing her fast life.

When/why did you start shooting pictures?
My mum used to collect bellows cameras when I was little, I was very attracted to them as if they were some magical object, of course I was playing with them when my mum wasn’t there so I can say that’s when I started taking pictures, even if they were just imaginary because the cameras didn’t work.

What cameras do you use and what do you like about them?
I started shooting with my mum’s manual reflex that had an amazing lens. Now I use a Contax G1 and everywhere I go I always carry with me one of my Olympus mju. I love the mju II ‘cos it’s quick, small and light, just perfect for partying!

What things/subjects/locations are you drawn to in your photography?
Ha! I don’t know, I guess my friends and the people I hang out with.

How would you describe your photography style?
Instinctive, candid, DIY as I’m self taught. Sometimes raw, sometimes sensitive, depends on how I feel.

Who/what inspires your work?
Everything around me, my travels, my cultural background, everything I see, feel, taste, listen, read…I’m an obsessive observer, I dig and filter what I need to be inspired.

How do you share your work? ‘Zines, books, exhibitions, blog etc?
If someone contacts me for publishing some of my photos in ‘zines and books I’m always down if it’s a cool project. I also printed a couple of zines but just for me. I have a tumblr that I use to share my works and as a journal, I love to tumblr.

Are your photos staged/posed or documentary?
I think more documentary. Using film you can’t tell how the photos will come out, there’s something you can’t control and that’s the magic of it. Digital photos in studios are boring, having everything under control is boring.

How do you hope viewers respond/engage with your photography?
I always try to do what I want and do it for myself. If other people like the photos good, if not good too. If I listened to my parents I wouldn’t be here doing photography. We need to do things we like just for ourselves. People are frustrated because they’re not able to do what they like, it’s a problem of culture and the system I think. I’ve decided to be as free as possible and do what I like.

What are your plans for the future?
I just moved to London so let’s see.

You can follow Sara’s work on her Tumblr.