Sandro was born in Rome on 6 October 1972 and became passionate about set design, studying it at the Roberto Rossellini Institute for Cinematography and Television. After graduating, he devoted himself to sound and lighting technology in the capital’s theatres. In 1993, he tried his hand at acting, and attended a renowned public school in Rome; thus began his acting career. On stage, he works with renowned directors such as Luciano Melchionna and Giancarlo Cobelli, while on film, he shares the stage with big names such as Dario Argento, Davide Marengo, Carlo Verdone and Melchionna again.
Since 2013, Sandro has fully immersed himself in his photographic project IN EXTREMIS (bodies without regret).
His photographs are true ‘short stories’ showing a world in decline.
Each image portrays worn-out individuals, who in a sudden mental and physical collapse, fall without any hope of salvation. This helplessness is the result of daily weariness in faking life, suffocated by its appearance rather than its being. In an era degraded by plastic surgery, which produces stereotyped images at the service of imposed marketing models, Sandro Giordano vindicates his idea that perfection lies in imperfection, in strong contrasts, in fragility and in the humanity that highlights the uniqueness of each individual. The concealed faces of the protagonists in his works allow their bodies to become the witness of their existence. The fall represents the point of no return, a bottom that recalls the famous saying: “you have to hit rock bottom to start again”. The FALL of Giordano’s characters is their bottom, beyond which their false self reaches its limit. Each of them holds on to an object, the symbol of this lie.
Fiction, for Giordano
is not only expressed by the objects, but also by the clothes, the hairstyles and the location. Everything that is visible in the picture constitutes their fiction, while the broken BODY reveals the TRUTH, a truth that, in order to be told, must necessarily fall apart. In his works, Giordano avoids the use of mannequins, preferring professional actors capable of expressing what escapes the gaze, so that the invisible becomes visible.
THE FALL told with irony
Since childhood, Giordano nurtured a love for the films of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, a source of laughter and joy. In their films, the characters face terrible events, serious accidents… THE FALL… The instinctive reaction of astonishment and embarrassment in the face of the protagonist’s misfortune is transformed, however, into liberating laughter. This effect is what Giordano tries to recreate through his photographs: recounting tragedy with irony. The ruined humanity, the object of his affection and attachment, does not push him away, but brings him closer. It is empathy that allows him not to judge, but to share stories with the hope that a laughter provoked in the viewer is a favourable sign, a trust in a better and more authentic future. Finally, that laughter becomes a revelation.
I am truly thrilled to be able to interview Sandro Giordano, this very talented and experienced artist whose originality intrigues us.
– Sandro, thank you so much for accepting this interview with me. One cannot, of course, not laugh when looking at your work. How did the idea for IN EXTREMIS come about and what is the message you want to convey with your photographs?
– Hello, thank you for this nice meeting. IN EXTREMIS was born as a denunciation of a world that is slowly falling. I tell a tragicomic tale of ordinary people crashing in their daily lives, overwhelmed by a weight they can no longer bear. When we get hurt there is something in our lives that is not going right, and used to living as if we were in a centrifuge, we do not realize this. Falling, getting hurt, hitting our face, in fact, is an alarm bell that we cannot underestimate and our body forces us to think about this. The moment we are on the ‘ground’, we have the choice of getting back on our feet or staying there and going further and further down. It is up to us; it is a test that life asks us to pass.
– What are the difficulties and satisfactions of realizing your works, which require the collaboration of actors, set designers and make-up artists?
– I come from theatre and cinema. I conceive my pictures as if they were stills from the film of a movie, so immortalizing that moment requires a lot of work on the stage. In that frame, I have to put everything necessary so that the audience can understand the dynamics of the incident and the character’s background. Through the objects, which are essential for the interpretation, I try to tell the story of his life and especially the malaise that led him to ‘crash’. It is a difficult and meticulous process that I personally take care of. I realize everything myself. On set, there are often only three of us: me, my assistant and the model. I work mainly with actors and dancers because they know how to handle the body, I can ask them to take positions that would be very difficult for others.
– How do you choose the locations and objects that accompany your fallen characters? Is there a symbolic meaning or story behind each choice?
– It depends on the story I want to tell. Actually, finding the right location is the most complicated aspect of the project. I have an incredible number of ideas, which sometimes reside in my mind for years, but if I don’t have the right location, I can’t take the photo and this makes me very nervous, it is very frustrating. Once this step is overcome, everything becomes easier. I usually take photos of the exact spot where the body will later be placed and from there, I start to create the image within myself. I see the position of the limbs and the arrangement of objects clearly. When we get to the set I know exactly what I want because the final shot is already in my head.
– What are your artistic and cultural references? Is there a photographer, director or actor who has inspired or influenced you on your path?
– I am often compared to David LaChapelle, perhaps because of the amount of colour I use in my photos. Certainly, on a subconscious level, he had a great influence on me, but I never thought of him when I started the project. I grew up with Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin films. I remember as a child being impressed by the number of accidents that happened to the characters in their films. They would fall, bang, but then immediately get back on their feet like rubber puppets, unbelievable! This certainly had a major influence on my artistic choices. And then there are two sitcoms that I am really attached to because of the amazing comic actresses who played them: Laverne & Shirley and Absolutely Fabulous. The former is a 1970s sitcom, the latter, 1990s. Even there, between falls and doors slammed in my face, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard. SOBRIA, the photo of the yellow Fiat 500, perhaps the most iconic in my project, is a clear homage to a scene from an episode of Absolutely Fabulous, in which one of the two protagonists, driving a car while intoxicated, is stopped by a police officer, who, opening the door to check her license, sees her rolling down like a sack of potatoes. If you are not familiar with this series, I recommend you catch up with it as soon as possible.
– How did you develop your photographic style, which mixes tragedy and irony, realism and fiction, beauty and ruin?
– It is life itself that led me to develop these aspects. I have never rationally thought of them as the right channels to follow to express myself. All the ‘ingredients’ you have just listed affect me personally in my daily life, so it comes naturally to me to put them into the project. I am convinced that there is always an ironic side to tragedy, we just have to bring it out. Which we often do not do out of modesty of the tragedy itself, as if to say: it is immoral and inappropriate to have a laugh at a tragic event. But that is precisely the point, to be able to downplay the worst moments of our lives, to laugh at ourselves. Of course, irony is something unknown to many. You either possess it or I don’t think you can ever acquire it.
– What are the challenges and opportunities of using professional actors in your work, instead of dummies or models?
– My project was very successful precisely because I used human beings instead of mannequins. People, in order to be ‘slapped’, have to identify with the characters in my pictures, and this would not happen if I used rag dolls. After a day of shooting, the final shot, the one I consider the best, is always one of the last, because after several hours spent in those positions, the models’ bodies are exhausted from fatigue, and this comes straight like a punch in the stomach when you look at the photo. You feel it immediately. For the same reason I hide their faces. Not having visible somatic features, as a point of reference, allows you to identify yourself more.
– How do you relate to the theme of falling, which is central to your IN EXTREMIS project? Is there a personal experience that has inspired or marked you in this respect?
– Yes, a few months before I started the project, I had a bad fall on my bike and I was, as it happens, going through one of the worst moments of my life. The thing that really worried me about that accident was the object I had in my hand, a protein bar, which instead of letting go to at least try to cushion the blow, I held on to the whole time. A few months later, a friend of mine broke his leg among the rocks at sea to save the smartphone that was slipping from his hands. At that point I said to myself: we have a serious problem with material ‘goods’, which we think we own, but which actually control our lives. So, I also wanted to show this aspect in the project. In almost all my photos, in fact, the models are holding an object that they do not let go of during the ‘crash’, precisely to emphasize their toxic and obsessive attachment.
– How do you choose the themes and stories you want to tell with your photographs? Is there a creative process you follow or do you let instinct and inspiration guide you?
– In most cases, I simply take inspiration from everyday life. I like to observe people, see how they gesture, how they talk, how they dress and what they do. I intuit their neuroses and obsessions and then exaggerate them in my own way. I rarely tell stories that I do not know closely or that I have not experienced personally.
– How do you see the role of the photographer in contemporary society which is dominated by digital images and social media? What is your relationship with these platforms and with your online audience?
– Social networks have become showcases in the world, for everyone. Even my project was born ten years ago on Instagram and exploded everywhere from there. It is the use we make of these social networks that makes the difference. Nowadays, anyone can improvise as a photographer, myself included. I was an actor for 20 years and a few months after I stopped, IN EXTREMIS was born, which I started with my old iPhone 5, by the way, and then switched to real cameras, but I never studied photography. I can say that I had a good idea and that perhaps I got it right. But the idea is the basis of everything. The medium you use to realize it takes second place when it is successful.
– What are your dreams and aspirations as an artist? Is there a project you would like to realize but haven’t had the chance to do yet?
– I would like to do IN EXTREMIS with celebrities. I have had the idea of a photo book in my mind for a few years now that would encapsulate, through my photos and their stories, my personal experience with inner falls. Slipping or tripping and falling to the ground, rather than slamming your face against a glass door, suddenly resets your social status to zero. When we fall, we are all the same: clumsy and helpless. Here, it would be nice to discover their vulnerabilities and play together to make them colourful and ironic.
– I propose myself as a model for your next work, what do you think?
– It’s fine with me. It just depends on what kind of relationship you have with your neck
– Thank you so much for letting us into your world.
– Thank you for giving me the opportunity.
www.sandrogiordanoinextremis.it
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