Claudia Curici Photography

It all started end of November 2013 when, during an event I was working on (in Dubai) I had an epiphany. I needed a professional camera. I would take pictures with my phone and people would say: ‘you take such nice pictures, you should be a photographer’. I have to point out that at that time I was desperately looking to find my passion (reading books, trying all kind of stuff, inclusive fashion design, which I liked for the creative part involved but soon I discovered it’s not really my passion). So, to cut the story short, in December 2013 I got my first professional camera and since then there hasn’t been one day when I didn’t learn something new, no matter how small, about photography. If I didn’t have time to take pictures, I would explore my camera, read articles and discover photographers I loved and inspired me to continue my journey. Fast forward to June 2015, I live in Dallas, Texas and just attended Out of Chicago Photography Conference, where I met some of these photographers who inspired me along the way. If you don’t know them already, check them out:

Valerie Jardin, Thomas Leuthard, Levi Sim, Kevin Kuster, Marie Laigneau, Michael Muraz, Bryan Peterson

Of course, there were many more, but there is so much time in two days and I had to make some choices. I met Valerie, who had a really important role in me starting my blog and me discovering Fuji X100S; I felt like I’ve known her forever, and I definitely learnt something from her these days. I met Thomas, who gave us some courage when it comes to pointing the camera in people’s faces on the street (there is nothing wrong in doing street photography!, but that really depends in which country you are). I met Levi, whose profile photos and website don’t really reveal how charming he is in reality (and I really think you need charm when doing street photography). Also, I learnt some pretty good tips from him about using Lightroom (which I desperately needed). Marie was inspiring and I was happy to discover her work. I didn’t have the chance to attend one of Bryan‘s workshops but he is wonderfully creative (I attended one of his lectures in Dubai). Michael takes amazing cityscapes, and he is one of those photographers who are particular about the tiniest detail in his creative process (and they look awesome, check him out). And last but not least, Kevin’s workshop was like a slap on the face! He reminded me that all that matters is the connection you create with the people you are photographing. He is an ex Playboy photographer who hated his job for it was limiting his creativity. You have to check his portraits, they are awesome! Oh, and he takes many of them with a phone (that’s the slap for those who think you need more gear to take better pictures :D).

And a particular Thank You to Chris Smith and his awesome team who organized the conference for the second time, and did a hell of a good job!

Ohhh, too much text and no photos… I will start with the one below (of quite an iconic location) and I will continue with more posts from Chicago in the next days.