Interview with Gabriele Rossi | An Italian Freelance Photojournalist

Hi, my name is Gabriele Rossi and I am an Italian freelance photojournalist. Since I was a boy, I have always found some aspects of society of great interest, in particular some situations in which the protagonists were people considered marginalised by society. After seeing the documentary "The Salt of the Earth" I decided to undertake some photojournalism workshops and subsequently I realised my first projects.

I participated in some workshops, in particular a workshop with the photo reporter Paolo Marchetti as a teacher and one with the photo reporter Nicolò Filippo Rosso as a teacher.

The first photos I took were taken in Cambodia during a holiday with a friend of mine.

Nikon D850, a 24/105mm zoom lens, a 24mm prime lens and an 85mm prime lens.

I hope to give as much visibility as possible to the themes of my projects, in order to raise awareness among as many people as possible.

I don't have a specific compliment but it always makes me happy when people tell me that one of my projects or a photo has conveyed emotions to them and made them think about a certain topic.

I try to do a social analysis of the topics I am going to discuss.

I don't know, I find it difficult to give myself definitions, I prefer to let people do it!

Thank you! It is certainly gratifying to receive recognition for your work, especially when it is self-funded.

I tried to document violence in Honduras because this country has the second-highest murder rate in the world and because data shows that in the last 20 years, a woman has been killed every day.

I tried to analyse the fact that in Honduras natural families are often absent and for many kids, the gang replaces this absence because in it they find solidarity and a sense of belonging and this double track of ferocity and abandonment are two sides of the same coin.

Often the kids who join a gang are the product of the environment in which they live and like every human being they learn to give to life what they receive from it. Furthermore, I also focused on the violence against women that is rampant in the country especially because of a chauvinist and patriarchal culture.

Thanks to the awards I hope to publicise myself and give greater visibility to the topics covered.

Paolo Marchetti, Nicolò Filippo Rosso, and Gordon Parks.

One of the most useful pieces of advice that my master Paolo Marchetti gave me is to remember that the subjects photographed are people and not volumes to be organised within a frame and that it is important to present yourself first as a person and then as a photographer who practices his profession.

On a practical level, I would recommend taking courses organised by professional photographers and I would also say to look deeply into yourself to understand the reasons why you would like to do this job.

Work hard, be brave and don't give up!