Due Ricce e Una Liscia Gallery
Naples, Italy 2014
® Emanuela Cristiano
Ernesto is a great photographer, he teaches you to do without what’s unneeded, he teaches you to explore the city, to delve in the constant flow of events and hopefully wait for the right moment to capture an image almost waiting for you to take it. You only need to look at things with a free eye, patient and poetic at the same time. During the workshop we spent time talking about photography, smiled, confronted ourselves with him, we explored a marvelous and true city such as Naples in company of our emotions and the love for the photographic search of such an intense and anarchic workshop.
Editing together is the most beautiful part of the workshop; the debate on everybody’s work is useful and functional to the growth of each participant. Personally I greatly approve of Ernesto’s method, this way of making us feel as equals, being able to ask for advice, looking at his future projects and talking to us about his way of understanding photography and editing.
Napoli lends itself to be photographed, there is much to see, to explore, to experience, much to get excited about: it’s a unique place in the world and its rich with history and culture, with incantation and rituals, life and death that braid together on people’s faces, in places, in stations, in the physical profile of that sea, which is both cheerful and sorrowful, sweet and whispering.
If you are thinking of taking a photographic workshop and you are a bit confused of the abundant offerings of courses and schools, or if you felt that you need a Maestro that can help you trace your own path, do not hesitate to enroll in one of the BazanPhotos Workshops. They are photographic journeys but also trips within your soul. Ernesto’s locations are always striking and outside the beaten path. There is also the danger of getting lost, but if you manage to find yourself you will feel a great joy!
I’ve been back home for the last two days and I miss Naples; I miss its odors, those flavors, and the sound of the Neapolitan accent. I miss talking with Ernesto, listen to his opinions, and hear him talk about our work and other photographers’ work. I miss experiencing Naples, that magic place, and get yourself surprised each time, enjoying the opportunity to live it as a tourist, as a photographer, as a friend, as a connoisseur and amateur at the same time.
I have a special memory of Juan who was with us just for a few days, but that did manage to leave a positive trace on all of us, with his pure presence and great sensibility. Ciao Juan! And thank you Naples, thank you Ernesto, you carry an added value to all photography. Emanuela Cristiano
® Fabio Barzaghi
My very first workshop with Ernesto. Ten days in the beautiful mess of Naples that kept on surprising us every day in a different way. It was an experimental workshop searching for random situations and photographic moments to capture with our cameras. Each morning was spent reviewing and editing the pictures taken the day before. Ernesto’s comments, severe but always fair and honest, greatly helped my photographs to get better as the days went by.
My workshop with Ernesto was not just about taking photographs. And I say this because I’ve had the extraordinary opportunity to spend many other moments with him talking about photography and life and because I met and spent time with one of his special friends: Salvatore Esposito, a fresh winner of two Sony Awards. That does not happen every day!
Again, the workshop was not only about taking pictures, in fact Ernesto shared with us his past works, those already in the making and his future dreams, and I had the honor of seeing some of his pictures that no one had seen before. He also shared the works of some of the authors that his BPP will publish in the coming months. What a special privilege.
If I should highlight one particular aspect of Ernesto that genuinely impressed me, I would say that not only does he give advice but he also pay close attention to what his students have to say.
My special “thank you” goes to Juan with whom I shared only the first few days of this workshop in Naples. Fabio Barzaghi
