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Elisabetta Fox Piantoni
Landscape and lifestyle photographer based in the US
Elisabetta Fox Piantoni, originally from Italy, has traveled extensively across the globe. For her, traveling is a means of learning about different cultures and growing as a person.
She says, “Traveling for me represents the best way to learn and grow. I am able to learn about different people and cultures in person without anyone else interfering or deferring my opinion about something. I think seeing and experimenting in person is essential in order to have unique experiences and have a better understanding of things.”
As a talented visual storyteller, Elisabetta values capturing the moment, something or sometime you’re unable to recreate in the future. She said, “I think in order to tell a great story visually, you need ‘the moment.’ But when you are able to capture something unique that is happening during that exact moment that you will not be able to recreate again, that’s when you create a story.”
Of the 42 countries she’s visited, Cuba felt different. “For some reason, I felt like I was living in the 40s or something. Cuba is like that, it truly makes you feel like you are living in a different area, but better,” she said.
But sometimes she chooses to just savor the moment. She chooses to take no photographs. As she wrote in one of her Instagram posts, it’s “just nature, beauty, and nothing else.”
Welcome Elisabetta! So, first of all, what motivated you to pick a camera in the first place and what is driving you nowadays?
Funnily enough, I think one of my aha moments with photography was when I started getting into musical instruments. Now, you’ll probably wonder what music has to do with visual arts. Well, for me pretty much everything. I find myself wandering to places whenever I listen to music and forget to be actually watching a movie when I get too caught up with the soundtrack. My love for music is what truly pushed me to dive into visual arts. I gave piano a try, then trumpet and drums, then guitar .. but as much as I loved playing instruments, I never felt completely satisfied with that. I knew I needed something more, something more practical so to say.
So that’s when I started experimenting with photography and video making. I finally felt realized but at the same time inspired by music. I finally found the perfect combination.
My ultimate goal with photography is to tell stories. Not necessarily my story. I want people to wander and go places just by looking at my photos. I want to give them the right input to start creating their own stories.
I am curious about your trip to Cuba. You mentioned: “I will never forget the colors of this beautiful little town. It seemed like all the painters in the world decided to meet up one day and release their artistic thoughts on the walls of these houses.” How was your trip to Cuba and why would you recommend our readers to visit this country?
Cuba is absolutely unique. From its architecture to the culture. I remember one morning, it was about 6am, the sun was slowly rising with an incredibly golden light. There was a group of workers walking to a construction sight. I could not see their faces as the sun was shining around them, allowing me to see only their golden outlines. A thick dust was flying in the air, creating a scene almost like in a western movie set. For some reason, I felt like I was living in the 40s or something.
Cuba is like that, it truly makes you feel like you are living in a different area, but better.
I know you are a voracious traveler! Can you share with us some tips and tricks to sustain a life full of travels?
I just recently visited my 42nd country. I know I want to visit as many as possible, but I also do not want to make it about the number in itself and truly enjoy every journey.
Whatever industry you are working in, if you want to make a living while also traveling, try to find a way to do whatever you are doing but remotely. Try to leverage your skills in a way that you can do your work via your laptop in any country across the world.
If this is not an option for you, or money is the issue, try combining working and traveling. I know a lot of people who have traveled to so many places by using workaday.com or similar platforms. You will be able to make your journey not only self-sustainable but also have an even more unique experience.
Warm and colorful tones clearly dominate your feed. How did you develop your current artist style?
Truth is, I didn’t really choose this style at first. I found myself always going to places either at sunrise or sunset and then all my photos had that golden and soft touch. Later on, I started appreciating more and more waking up for sunrise or staying late for sunset. Later on, I realized that warm and colorful tones also influenced my editing style. I just like it more when photos look soft and warm, they make me happier.
In my opinion, you are an excellent visual story teller. Specially when it comes to convey emotions such as freedom for instance. What is necessary to tell a great story visually?
I think in order to tell a great story visually, you need “the moment”. Everyone, well, almost everyone, is able to set up a camera and take a picture of a building or landscape for example. But when you are able to capture something unique that is happening during that exact moment that you will not be able to recreate again, that’s when you create a story. Maybe add an element, create a different perspective, wait for something to happen. A person passing by, the sun suddenly popping out of the cloud creating a unique light in the sky .. make that shot truly yours.
When talking about freedom, I believe it’s very subjective. We all have a different perception of it.
For me freedom is going for a hike with my dog. It’s waking up for sunrise on top of a mountain. Or simply enjoying a book on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
It’s hard to recreate that feeling visually because everyone will get a different meaning out of it. For me freedom is all about doing what I love while still being conscious and grateful of the opportunities I have.
Imagine yourself at the beginning of your professional career as a photographer. What four pieces of advice would you give to yourself?
- Patience.
I have that word even tattooed on my back. I think we live in a society where “the moment” is underrated.
We are always living in the past or in the future but never in the present. We are always so worried about what we could have done better or what we are going to do without worrying about what we can do now. When it comes down to photography, I always see a lot of hurry when wanting to grow and becoming good quickly without thinking about quality. Skills such as photography require time and patience.
2. Listen
Your numbers don’t signify how much you know. Never assume you know more than someone else. Always be open to listen other people’s opinions. For example, my greatest critic is my mother. She does not know a single thing about photography but sometimes that’s even better. It allows me to learn from a different perspective and get out of own mindset as a photographer.
3. Learn to use what you have
I feel like this one of the most common mistakes. People always look at what other photographers have and what they shoot on, as if their camera had some sort of magic incorporated that would take the shot for them. Learn to take the most out of your potential while leveraging the tools that you have at the moment. I remember when I first started, I wanted to buy a specific kind of gear just because a certain photographer had it. However, later on I then realized that I could work my way around it and save up for something more suitable for my needs and skills.
4. Open your eyes, not your phone / create not re-create
When surrounded by so many visual platforms, it’s easy to fall within the “mainstream” category.
People going to the same places over and over again taking the same exact photo or trying to recreate someone else’s shot. Train your eyes to always look for a different perspective. Try going to places nearby your house multiple times and take the same shot but from a different perspective. Play around with the framing, time of the year, elements .. don’t re-create but create. Always.
In one of your posts you mentioned the following: “As a photographer, it happens many times that people ask me “so, what’s your favorite photo that you have ever taken? And every time it takes me ages to reply and I probably answer in a different way.” So…What is your favorite photo? Haha 🙂
My favorite photo is the photo I will shoot next. And when I will be done with that, the picture after it. I know, this probably does not fully answer your question but truth is, for me photography is about the moment. The emotions I am feeling right before I press the shutter. And not only about the emotions but also about the process of growth I go through, shot after shot. Learn what I got from shot #1 of the day and apply it to the second one, and so on.
I think this process will always push me to do better and better without focusing too much on that particular shot but on the whole on-going process of learning and growth.
You are living the life you want, and traveling seems to be an important part of it. To what extent is important for you to keep traveling and why?
Traveling for me represents the best way to learn and grow. I am able to learn about different people and cultures in person without anyone else interfering or deferring my opinion about something. I think seeing and experiment in person is essential in order to have unique experiences and have a better understanding of things. Reading about a specific place or culture is one thing; but seeing with your own eyes is a whole different level. You are becoming part of something, you truly incorporate what you see and learn, it’s not something external anymore.
What are the three most valuable personal lessons you have learned traveling?
1) Appreciate what you have
While growing up, I always had this urge of going places. Having to see everything and immediately. After 7 years of living away from home, I finally started realizing the beauty I had right around the corner but never appreciated. I traveled miles and miles going to I don’t even know where, just to find out that beauty was right outside my window.
2) It’s not about the destination (yes, cliché but ..)
People always ask me “What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever been to”. But no one has ever asked me “what is the journey that taught you the most” or “which one is the most memorable adventure that you’ve done”. It’s always more about the things I have seen rather than what I have learnt or the experience in itself. My favorite journeys are made of the perfect combination between learning new things, meeting new people or having fun with family and friends, while also being surrounded by beauty in nature.
3) One click
When I first started traveling, I would always take with me several memory cards and always take thousands of thousands of photos. However, the more I travel, the more I try to push myself not to take as many photos. I want to remember the moment in which I took that specific photo and then be able to enjoy the moment without my camera for a while.
"I want it to be about the experience and truly remember everything with my own eyes rather than through the view finder."
What is the most beautiful thing that travel has allowed you to do?
Grow as a person. I used to be really shy until 8/9 years ago. The typical socially awkward kid. Traveling has allowed me to open up as a person and speak up for myself. It is an on going process and I know I still have a lot to learn but hey, one more reason not to stop traveling anytime soon!
Are there any artists/photographers who has inspired your art? Can you name three?
- Vivian Maier
- Robert Doisneau
- Paola Franqui (@monaris_)
The thing that inspires me the most about those three people is that they are (and were) not only great photographers but also story tellers. Their photographs are able to tell stories of unrepeatable moments. They do not create nor recreate; they catch the moment.
I’ve oftentimes heard photographers saying things like “ah the light is not ideal but I’ll shoot anyways and post process it” or “I am just going to add a person / boat / birds / or remove things”. With tools such as Photoshop, we are slowly losing the meaning and importance behind the shot, we are not patient anymore. I personally think that people who post process their photos a lot are more visual artists than photographers because they are creating or re-creating something that was not there originally. The three photographers mentioned above inspire me to be always patient, because it will always be worth it.
Any new projects coming up or countries you will be visiting soon?
Heading to Lofoten in February, Dolomites/Germany/Austria/Switzerland in March, Scotland in April, and hopefully back to the States in May for another big road trip!
