I never forget a gracious and unsolicited
act of kindness as s was the case with Roberto when I was just starting out
on the latest iteration of my life. Out of the blue he sent me something and
said just because he enjoyed reading what I write and how I write it and so here,
we are oh these many years later when I can properly say thank you!
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In the time that has passed I have
watched Roberto’s work evolve from being just another photographer to what I
consider a world class photographer. The images he is producing now are of the
highest quality and when in a relatively short span of time he has proven
himself to be “cover worthy.”
While he
is much more solicitous to the advantageous side of social media when it comes to models and photographers,
I am far more critical and disturbed by it. That in itself speaks to the
demeanor of the man and how he works and what his mindset is in present times
and by the way, I tip my hat to him for thinking as he does.
Anyway, I’d never have known the path
that led Roberto to where he is today and this interview has been eye opening
in terms of just how he is and who he is TODAY and how he had the grit,
determination and well … the balls to do it!
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So now in his words and not mine
Roberto will recount some of his past
his present and his future in his own words …
Jeffrey Felner: Can
you give us a brief run down as to how you started and your journey that lead
you to being a photographer?
Roberto Ligresti: Growing up in Milan, I always thought I
was going to become an artist. My drawing ability was appreciated from a very early age. I needed a role model; my parents, both
highly professionally intellectual, didn’t have a background in arts and didn’t
really know what to do with me! It was up to me to look beyond my family and
find my own heroes.
At first, I
thought I was going to be a cartoonist when I discovered the trendy work of
Guido Crepax, a great Italian illustrator who mixed art, politics and fashion. He
created a character called Valentina. A
“fashion photographer” with a Louise Brooks haircut, who was either nude or
wore St Laurent. Valentina was obviously Mr. Crepax’s alter ego and so I
started doing all kinds of drawings imitating his style and creating my own
version of his character.
Valentina ran in
a large printed format Italian monthly magazine called LINUS, based on Peanuts. It was a satirical publication
aimed at pseudo intellectual high schoolers, like me I suppose, or so I thought,
and it was my first contact with American pop culture. At the same time, I discovered the
American Illustrator Annuals which only reinforced my desire to have a career
in the United States since there weren’t any publications of this sort in Italy and against my parent’s wishes, I enrolled in a high school for the arts.
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At 15, I bought
my first copy of Vogue Italia, and Marie Helvin was on the cover. That image
completely mesmerized me. I became fascinated with models and photographers. Previously,
the only model I “knew” of was Veruschka., but after discovering Vogue, a whole
new world unfolded that included Vibeke, Dayle Haddon, Susan Moncur, Jeanette Christensen, Margaux
Hemingway, Jerry Hall, and the lensmen Giampaolo Barbieri, Oliviero Toscani, Bill
King, Guy Bourdin, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton who were added to my list of new
heroes. Arrivederci Valentina!
I now desperately
wanted to be part of that world but didn’t know how!! When I saw the
illustrations of Antonio Lopez for Valentino, I found my next ambition! I was
going to be the new Antonio Lopez which seemed to be an achievable goal given
my artistic abilities. I was so confident of my unique talent, I decided to
take matters into my own hands and to walked into the offices of Vogue Italia
with a roll of bad drawings thinking they equaled the work of Antonio. The
first person I saw while crossing the beautiful courtyard in Piazza Castello 27
was Giulietta Masina (Fellini’s wife).
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I was now entering
a new unknown world. The staff of Vogue Italia was more than kind to me and the
art director even gave me my first assignment on the spot! I thought I had it
made. Sadly, my drawings looked like those of someone fresh from art school, so
I was asked to match the style of the illustrators of Women’s Wear Daily… aha!
... a New goal found; Move to New York City and work for Women’s Wear Daily! Vogue
Italia started using me every month for about 6 months that year and, being the
immature kid, I began thinking of myself as an accomplished artist. I grew my
hair long and wore super trendy clothes to get attention. I started spending my
nights at the chic night clubs and sneaking into every fashion show in Milan
and Paris. I spent 4 years at the Academy of Arts instead of going to a traditional
college. All I cared about was to be part of the fashion world.
Having no
sponsors or mentors, no one was there to tell me that fashion is a serious
industry, and that at this stage of my life I was nothing more than an intern.
My first assignment for Vogue gave me the childish confidence to think of
myself as a fashion star.
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Before Social
Media existed, you had to be “seen” in in all the right places but because of
attending every fashion show (the field being a lot smaller back then) I became
a familiar face of the fashion crowd in Milan and Paris even though no one knew
who the hell I was or why I was there!
New York was the next fashion capital to
conquer and armed with the excuse of
enrolling for at the School of Visual Arts. Now, with a huge vinyl portfolio
(no longer paper tied up with a rubber band) searching for a position at an American
fashion magazine! I spent my days walking back and forth on Madison avenue with
my big portfolio and barely managed to get 6 magazine illustration assignments
in 6 months, so it was ciao New York City but still more intrigued than ever.
Everyone was so friendly!
When returning to
Milan at 22, I began my corporate experience at McCann Erickson working as an
aide to star Art Director Raymond Gfeller who had worked in New York and Paris,
most notably for Jardin Des Modes. The job was fun and interesting, servicing
the biggest department store in Italy, and I enjoyed the experience of drawing
the storyboards for the tv commercials. I even illustrated for a small campaign
featured in national newspapers. I’m sure my boss thought I was a brat,
since I wasn’t THAT helpful to him, but he liked me and kept me around.
Since I was
aching to return to New York City, I jumped at the opportunity to work at a
Manhattan Art Studio providing collateral material to all the major advertising
agencies. I left my job at McCann Erickson, and made the Big Apple my new
home. Working for the Manhattan Art
Studio provided me with all the discipline I never had in Milan. I worked hard,
I worked nights and weekends and made good money. I bought my first apartment
in Chelsea. I thought that I was fulfilled.
A few years later, during my first and only experience sharing a house
in Fire Island, I befriended a group who “worked in fashion”. By then, with a solid advertising career,
drawing storyboards for TV commercials pretty much daily, the fun I experienced
in Milan in the early years had worn off and I was completely burned out. I became
completely intrigued with the people at the shared house, a fashion
photographer, a hairstylist, and an art director for Bloomingdales. They seemed
to work together often, and they seemed happy doing it. They knew ALL THE
MODELS and my tedious job as an illustrator, left me basically working alone and trying to meet strict deadlines hence my career now seemed to look drab and sad.
The Fire Island “chapter”
was the push I needed to make me stop drawing. The time had come to start my career as a
photographer. I began a whole new life at 31, but it’s what I was meant to do.
I could finally work in fashion and it
was the best moment and my least regrettable decision. With
trial and error, I embarked on a new career and began working with model
agencies, and slowly built my portfolio. I learned how to negotiate with
magazines and 6 years later, I got to a point where my sole source of income was
photography.
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JF: When you
started, did you have any “style” icons or mentors that have influenced your
work during your career and why did you select them?
Roberto Ligresti: Honestly, I never chose anything in life.
Everything in my journey seemed to have appeared in front of me by chance, my
only merit being to take on every challenge presented to me thinking I might
miss out on a golden opportunity.
My good luck brought
me to Raymond Gfeller, a wonderful, generous soul who I owe everything to for
giving me my first full time job, and who taught me so much about proportions
(big picture has to go next small picture) and graphics.
Several years on,
I was fortunate enough to work alongside Francis Ing, a great, technically
proficient fashion photographer who was a frequent collaborator of Andy Warhol
at Interview Magazine in the early 80’s. He taught me everything about
studio lighting which remains my strong suit to this day.
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JF: Care to
discuss your best and worst experiences while working on a shoot? ….
Model? Client? Stylist? Location?
Control? Wardrobe? Creative director?
Roberto Ligresti: The “bad” experiences I may have had, were
caused by my inexperience in handling certain working situations. As a
photographer, you need to have the patience of a saint, care about everyone
else’s needs, from the cranky assistant to the client who may be in a bad
mood, to the ego driven hair and makeup people … You have to be the captain of
a ship that’s going to stay afloat no matter what! Most professional photographers
(in their growing years) have experience assisting other photographers where you would
witness all kinds of situations and you learn what NOT TO DO…But I never
assisted, I learned everything on my own.
Now, of course I
pride myself on being an expert captain, I’m not always perfect, but I
certainly try!
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JF: If you could
invite any 5 people to dinner who would they be and why?
Roberto Ligresti: Nick Knight because I love his integrity
as an image creator; he’s not afraid of trying new techniques and media, and
truly respect what he creates on his SHOWSTUDIO platform.
George Hoyningen-Huene for his
contribution to fashion photography. Like
me, he was an illustrator before starting photography, and late in his life
worked in the movie industry, as I may want to do one day. Donald Wexler as
I am a big fan of his work, I’m fascinated by mid-century architecture. Massimo Vignelli because I know I would enjoy
talking design with him. My dear
friend the hairstylist Garren because he has great stories about photo shoots and
always makes me laugh and in
case one of the five couldn’t make it, the next person I would invite is Eileen
Ford as an alternate!
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JF: Now, let’s
talk about the elephant in the room … the internet and social media; can you
speak to the pros and cons and if you could, how you would change the posting
requirements or content requirements for being “REAL” models and photographers?
Roberto Ligresti: At the present stage of my life what I
value about social media is provides a platform for professionals to communicate and reach people within the industry on an international level. I've had several
opportunities come my way via social media… Including this fun interview with
you!
I love that
social media makes everyone with a telephone a photographer, everyone believes they can be a model or an influencer. “Modeling” is no
longer about natural beauties (Karen Graham and Lauren Hutton), society,
fashion, its audience and the standards of beauty have changed and so it’s the new
way “spread the word.” It’s progress and
the beginning of true democracy in media. It can’t be changed; I’m just
enjoying the ride!
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Jeffrey thank you
so much for this wonderful opportunity!
https://www.instagram.com/roberto_ligresti_studio/
CLICK THE LINK AND FOLLOW ROBERTO
