Attracted by the Sea

My name is Simone Masia, I am 39 years old and I live in Sardinia, an Italian island in the Mediterranean. The first encounter with the world of photography was in high school, between old films and hours spent in the darkroom, I fell in love instantly, I felt master of the moment, having fun I could show my vision of the world and create new ones, I could choose what to give importance, what to make the protagonist and what not. Obviously all this, almost unconsciously and almost for fun.

I became passionate about the vision of great photographers: Ansel Adams, Bill Brandt, Mimmo Jodice, Edward Weston, Michael Kenna and many others, of all these photographers I loved their way of using light and the cutting of their images, their ability to have a different importance depending on the intention and a strong expressiveness in each shot.

And this is why I have always been fascinated by the power of photography, capable of enhancing what we have around but to which we do not pay due attention or that we perceive eternal and unchanging despite being in continuous transformation.

Thus was born my love for photography. During the university years, at the academy of fine arts, I focused my attention on making my works as clean, essential and meaningful as possible, where the lines have a dominant role in the frame making it simple and direct. I have experimented with different genres and I am passionate about Still Life.

After completing my studies for several years, I worked as a tourist photographer, between Italy and abroad, in villages and hotels loved and desired by tourists from all over the world, I traveled a lot, I left my island, I was a tourist in my beautiful Italy, I left to Latin America and Asia, this experience has allowed me to be able to see a part of the world, and open my visual and mental horizons, and to grow in me the desire to tell through photography what we have around.

In recent years, the subject of my shots is mainly the sea, it has attracted me since I was a child and is the protagonist of my life as an islander, capable of sometimes sending me euphoria or melancholy, but also both at the same time. The greatest force of the sea is his coming and going, at the expense of everything around him, it does not matter to him, this is made clearer by nature and man-made elements that are rigid and firm around him, with the illusion of being able to resist over time. This fascinates me a lot, it gives me a sense of life and vitality.

The sea is for me a meeting place with nature not only physical but also spiritual, capable of arousing deeper feelings and putting ourselves in front of ourselves, forcing us to stop and look at us from other points of view, for this reason in my shots I try to make the sea the undisputed protagonist, an element in constant change, like human nature. With the photographic technique, I can have the “power” to choose the right moment for me, in which all the elements come together creating the image I am looking for.

I have always photographed with analog and digital SLRs from Nikon to Canon, and I have been interested in Fujifilm mirrorless cameras for their lightness and practicality. I chose the Fujifilm X-T10, a camera with excellent value for money, and immediately appreciated its manageability, lightness, the practicality of all the settings that were immediately intuitive and comfortable. It’s very important for me not to have too much weight in the backpack and the speed in being able to set the camera quickly, having the time to focus on the composition.

In my kit can not miss ND filters, very important to be able to produce my shots, in particular: NiSi 10-stop screw filter and very little Hoya always 8-stop screw and a polarizer. Obviously, for any photo with long exposure times, it needs a good stable and resistant tripod.

Mine is a Manfrotto MK290DUA3-3W, with 3-way head, honestly a bit old, compared to the new carbon models, but it has a good quality, practicality and stability, it is not very light but nothing excessive. As a lens I started using the Fujinon 16-50 mm zoom lens, then I purchased a fixed lens a Samyang 12mm, to have a greater push in-depth.

I would like to create a photographic project that exactly concerns the idea of the sea that I have in mind, but my greatest desire is to be able to make my passion my job. For me, who still don’t live on photography, the X-T10 is an excellent companion, with great manual simplicity and great image quality. Together we are an excellent team.