Portrait and lifestyle photographer Laura Barisonzi

We’re here talking with photographer Laura Barisonzi to find out a little bit about herself and her fast-paced career as a professional photographer. >> Read past interviews

ephotos: Where are you based Laura?

LB: I'm based in Boston but I travel to New York frequently.

ephotos: When did you realize photography was your thing?

LB: I became addicted to photography when I lived in St. Petersburg, Russia for 5 months. I dropped out of my Russian classes and wandered the city with my rusty Soviet camera and some expired Kodak film.

ephotos: Was there a photographer that inspired or influenced you?

LB: The first photographers whose work really moved me were Sebastian Salgado and Nadav Kander. However, long before that I was a foreign film junkie and used to watch Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, and Zhang YiMou's films repetitively. Many of single frames in their films are amazing as photographs on their own.

ephotos: What style of photography do you shoot?

LB: I shoot a mix of lifestyle and portraits, mostly on location. I also shoot musicians.

ephotos: What type of equipment do you use?

LB: I shoot all digital with Nikons and a big assortment of lighting equipment from the high-end to the home-made.

ephotos: What's the worst thing that has happened to you during a shoot?

LB: Police intervention. It's nearly inevitable with location shooting these days.

ephotos: Do you have a site? Is it flash or HTML?

LB: My site is www.barisonzi.com and it's flash.

ephotos: Do you have a rep or agent?

LB: No.

ephotos: Where have you been recently?

LB: I did some shooting in Aspen, Colorado this spring.

ephotos: Do you ever just shoot for fun?

LB: Every single shoot is fun for me. But I do shoot without purpose sometimes, sort of doodling with my camera. It's when I come up with some of my best ideas and a sure way to stay out of a rut.

ephotos: Do you deal with any stock agencies?

LB: I have some stock on IPN (Independent Photographer's Network). It's not really a normal stock agency and that's what I like about it.

ephotos: What do you think will be the next big trend in the photo industry?

LB: It's not really new, but I think that individual photographers and digital post-production artists will become even more inextricably linked.

ephotos: Do you use a resource site or publication?

LB: I use Blackbook, Photoserve, and Altpick.

ephotos: What are you working on next?

LB: I am continuing my project on kiteboarding.

ephotos: Is there anything else you’d like to say about yourself or your work?

LB: The most important thing that I aim for is to keep my end results believable and authentic. On every shoot I try to strike that balance between getting something which matches the desired outcome but also has an element of unpredictability that photography is all about. Despite all the production, preparation, and planning, I want the viewer to have a genuine feeling or connection with the subject and place. The viewer has to believe it's real.

ephotos: Thanks for spending some time with us, Laura, and remember to keep the focus!

Read past interviews