Interview with Black and White photographer Roberto Spotti | MONOVISIONS

MonoVisions Black & White Photo Contest 2025

My name is Roberto Spotti, I was born in Milan on November 16 ,1955 and lived mainly in this great city where I have done my job as an advertising photographer. Initially, in the eighties, I turned to art galleries as a natural continuation of my great interest in photography started as a hobby a few years earlier. I could not continue in this way because of commercial commitments like mainly photographs and advertising services. Back to my main interest , I now use the medium of photography to create my own research and also expose in galleries and public spaces.

How and when did you become interested in photography?

My interest in photography started when I was 15 and. At that time my brother, twelve years older than me, came home one day with a photograph developed and printed by him along with his friend passionate about this art. My brother has always been for me, especially when I was young, an example to imitate ..and thus I became interested in photography … the first reflex bought used, a small dark room in the bathroom.

Is there any artist/photographer who inspired your art?

During many years I have been inspired and also influenced by many photographers, obviously.
Currently I am very interested in Japanese culture upon which, moreover, my whole production is based. I like Masao Yamamoto, Miho Kajioka. I love so much the way they look at the world.
This portfolio is inspired by the French sculptor Rodin because in his artistic production I found an affinity with the principles of Japanese aesthetics: harmony, balance, emptiness and fullness

Why do you work in black and white rather than colour?

I never use colour, I prefer the black and white sometimes veered in warm colours. I think that colour is too much “eloquent”, “explicit”, I love the B&W because it excites our imagination, it makes everything more magic and in some way it hides a part of that reality making it more interesting.

How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph/series of photographs?

I concentrate very much on the general composition of the image. When I work in studio I mainly use natural light after that it is an absolutely emotional process and I shoot without taking much care to technique.
I abandoned the “perfect form” that I used in the advertising works.
Many of my pictures have been shooted with cheap cameras. Anyway I use a digital reflex full frame and in the post production I mainly use photoshop and some plug-in.
In my workflow the post production is very important for trying to transmit that emotion that has made me shoot that particular, that fragment of reality to obtain exactly what I want. I try to emphatize some details to deliver my feelings.
Even the media are very important. I only use the essential materials for those who turn to the art market: the best quality of paper made with 100% pure cotton and pigmented inks for copies Giclée which I personally print.

Where is your photography going? What projects would you like to accomplish?

I have my ideas and so I propose my works to galleries and critics maybe not in a common way. However,I continue this way as far as I am aware that what I produce reflects many concepts of the Japanese art and culture that are not easy to understand for us in the West. In any case this is for me the only way to go on. The most important thing about my researches is creation. This is the only purpose for me, then comes the rest…exhibitions, curators, collectors.

Website: www.robertospotti.it