Meet Bettina Pittaluga

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bettina Pittaluga. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bettina, thank you so much for making time for us today. We can’t wait to dive into your story and the lessons you’ve learned along the way, but maybe we can start with something foundational to your success. How have you gone about developing your ability to communicate effectively?
I think I learned how to communicate my wants and needs quite late. The therapy helped me a lot, firstly to understand myself, and secondly how to make myself understood. I grew up with the feeling of being misunderstood, as if it were something immutable. With the therapy I managed to perceive the nuances of language, and that communicating is in itself a panel of dialects different from each other. When you find the right one, which is my case, it is finally possible to be understood, even if for some, there is no need to put words to understand the other, that does not mean that the other can read so easily in us. Each has its sensors, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for understanding. Patience, the will and the ability to adapt are the keys for me to successfully communicate from heart to heart.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a sociologist and a photographer. I only shoot analog.

I started shooting in black and white quite young, in a darkroom lent by the town hall of my city, at the time I didn’t even think it was possible to develop color. It’s very technical, it’s chemistry, temperature calculation, and for me, who’s completely obsessed with authenticity, it’s very important to be as close as possible to the color of the skin, the light. Here, I start from a neutral negative where I create everything: I can choose the exposure, the tone of the color… Finally, there are plenty of reasons why I work with film, but what I I especially like that it’s an object that I can touch, have in my hand. To be able to create an image until the end is extraordinary. I don’t take a lot of photos, I have ten exposures on the film, each image is an object that takes time and that has a weight of work and reflection somewhere, I’m not in the consumption of the image . I like this time of hindsight, because the moment when I take a picture is very emotional. This incompressible development time is necessary for me to then edit my images, choose them, digest them, edit my subject. And then, the sensitivity is not the same at all. In the lab, I can access much more sincere colors. Yes, sincere is the word. And then a film is physical, material, it can be touched.

Anything new ? I have several exhibitions planned for the start of the school year, Fotografiska in Berlin in September, Unseen Amsterdam in September, Le Floréal Paris in October, and Photovogue Festival in Milan in November!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think the most important thing in my job every day is determination. Because whatever happens, I don’t separate my job from my values ​​and my commitments, it’s a choice and it’s part of me no matter what. And my determination keeps me going.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
When I have the feeling of being overwhelmed, the first thing for me is to become aware of this state, to understand it and to give it space to exist, to be with this emotion instead of wanting to push it away right away. . Gentleness with oneself, first and always. Then what helps me is to understand that it’s just a question of intensity, and that there are plenty of tools available to me to find an emotional balance. What works for me, hearing the voice of a loved one, listening to music, everything in my possession to reconnect, gently get out of this apnea. Sometimes the only thing we needed was a hug, and that’s ok.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
crédit : Bettina Pittaluga

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