Sebastian Bruno

I have been thinking about trying to capture more ‘snapshot’ style images to add some variety to my folio, so that is the kind of work I have been trying to keep an eye out for in my research. I feel that using a harsh, on-camera flash is one such style that screams ‘snapshot,’ but I don’t particularly like this style. I’ve never been a huge fan of the Terry Richardson frontal flash, preferring more sculpted, gentle light in my work. In any case, I was looking at Sebastian Bruno’s folio online, and there were some images in his series Duelos Y Quebrantos that I quite liked the feel of. What I like about these black and white images is the humble sort of feel to them. They feel raw and honest, and not like they are overly considered or showy. They seem like anyone could take them (no offence intended), and I feel as if that really helps to place the viewer in the scene.

This style is also visible in Bruno’s series All Inclusive - A Guide To Surviving A Cruiseship, but this series combines black and white with colour. I was particularly drawn to the out of focus, over-exposed photos of the meals on the ship. Perhaps is it because of the familiarity that I like them- we all have this type of awful of a meal photo taken on a holiday somewhere, with a camera that can’t focus on anything closer than 1.5 meters. I think this is the kind of thing that I need to try and capture for my folio. Maybe my ‘snapshot’ images are still too considered and refined, and I need to revisit the photography skillset I had when I was 7.

(1) Bruno, S 2013-18, Duelos Y Quebrantos, photographic series, viewed 21 May 2020, <https://sebastianbruno.com/DUELOS-Y-QUEBRANTOS>

(2) Bruno, S 2019, All Inclusive - A Guide To Surviving A Cruiseship, photographic series, viewed 21 May 2020, <https://sebastianbruno.com/ALL-INCLUSIVE>