The Interview

M : Initially I would like to ask you about your first posting @rainstations… It would be interesting to know more about this photograph from your perspective also …

L: A very intimate work. My soul in a state of deep loss and annihilation. The lacerating emptiness of the absence. A face without a soul scratched by a tear that leaves a deep mark. Even the sky cries. A black RAIN falls ample and incessant. My tears hide and mix with the RAIN. I see black shadows like ghosts. My thousand “whys” that torment my mind…….The death of my mother upset me. I wasn’t ready. We are never ready for the loss of our loved ones. I tried transferring in an image all my pain and the deep sense of loss that I had inside… Photography as therapy for the soul.

To her: To my Mother <3

M : It speaks volumes in the fact you chose to express your sentiments photographically through the medium of RAIN. This is deeply permeating in itself.

I like to ask people what is the first word that comes into your mind when you think of RAIN…

L: Inevitably, my first thought goes to Life. Without the RAIN there would be no Life. Often, the RAIN represents the safeness of many human beings. There it is invoked to bring new life with it. The RAIN like a victory over the drought.

I think, in some images, the RAIN concept is very powerful and present, despite his absence…

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Photo: @luciabrancati

M : I agree! It is a useful illustration to balance opposites and stimulate our broader understanding of what we often take for granted with RAIN.

Which of your RAIN images stands out most for you and why?

L: I will start by saying that I am not a photographer, I am only an amateur.
In the photography I like to subtract rather than add. Less is More. I research in some of my shots essentialness and aesthetics. I like this shot just because it unites my passion for the RAIN to my vision of photography. The darkness of the night, a red umbrella, and two little raindrops. The observer can add his own sensations, different for everyone, and all equally valid.

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Photo: @luciabrancati | Nascoti nella sera

Gli ombrelli sbocciano agli angoli
e appesi
voliamo anche noi
Nella pioggia: Vinicio Capossela

M : What is your most memorable or earliest experience of RAIN?

L: The photograph freezes our memories and wakens them when you see the photo. I remember precisely that moment. It was winter. I was in the car near the sea. There was an incredible wind. The sky threatened a downpour.
All of a sudden the first drops of RAIN fell and I took this shot.

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Photo: @luciabrancati | Acid jazz

Then the pouring RAIN came down and the sky darkened. I stood there for a long time to admire the force of the Nature, of the sky and of the sea …

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Photo: @luciabrancati | Preso Blu – Subsonica

Observing flowers after it has rained is a wonderful spectacle! The RAIN puts its drops like pearls and diamonds. This is another moment of the RAIN that I adore! The pleasure of the simple things.

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Photo: @luciabrancati | Untitled

M : On your instagram @luciabrancati you say : I am a traveler from sensations in undiscovered lands, where everything must be interpreted. (Mario Giacomelli)

How would you relate this to your relationship to RAIN?

L: A thought that fully expresses my feelings. A very deep and complex concept that you cannot describe in a few words. The unknown lands are intended as places of the soul, crossed by a continuous flow of sensations. You take from reality to get to new dimension. It is not a clear picture at first glance, but it should be interpreted. In our case, the RAIN, as a means of expression of the human feelings, such as fear, longing, crying, melancholy, romance, pain, loneliness, disappointment or joy.

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Photo: @luciabrancati | Massive Attack: Teardrop

M : On your website you talk about:
The traumatic flow of time and the flattened existence of daily lead me to photograph and dream of being able to get out of what is already established… (Mario Giacomelli)
I am interested to know how you see RAIN as a photographer both in terms of this ‘traumatic flow of time’ and dreams…. These words seem to simultaneously imply both a sense of urgency or restlessness and somehow perhaps seeking a refuge with a lens to pause and dream….?

L: Yes exactly! An escape from reality to imaginary places!
A necessity of soul to find yourself in other spaces and find relief to traumatic flow of our existence. Searching in other dimensions a sense to our questions of life.
Photography transfiguring reality leads in a dream world and mind is free to fly … RAIN is like a journey of soul.

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Photo: @luciabrancati | Untitled

M : Absolutely! I couldn’t agree more! ????

How do you work with RAIN in a practical sense? How do you prepare yourself for example?

L: Very simple. Usually I take the car and go out. Like to photograph the RAIN behind the window glass. I have not much experience of photos of RAIN taken along the street. Going around with the car while it’s raining is so relaxing for me.

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Photo: @luciabrancati | Untitled | Rainy Day Loop : Jesse Cook

M :Tell me about RAIN in Italy – how would you describe it? What words would you use?

L: I don’t remember many terms in which in Italy we define the RAIN. I will try to mention some:

Pioggerellina – drizzle
Acquazzone – downpour
Scroscio – roar
Piovasco – downpour
Nubifragio – cloudburst

M: When do you enjoy and not like the RAIN?

L: I like waking up in the morning with the sound of the RAIN. I love its ticking. A perfect soundtrack for remaining in bed under the blankets, to read a good book! I adore the RAIN that comes down thinly from the sky with lightness!
I like to watch the sky while it prepares to RAIN. Suddenly changes colour and light, and often after the RAIN the light creates a surreal atmosphere …….

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Photo: @luciabrancati | Untitled

L : What a beautiful sensation to sense the smell of the RAIN! The wonderful smell of the wet earth, especially in the country in summertime.

There are many situations in which the rain gets me close contact with nature. I love these moments…. And then I like the atmosphere of some gloomy days.

They have a sense of meditation, finding oneself, a sense of interior peace.
The strong thunderstorms, when the sky splits and seems to fall on us, scares me a bit. Maybe it’s the only moment in which nature inspires fear.

M : Favourite way to experience RAIN?

L: Going out of home without an umbrella and walking under the RAIN. I love the RAIN to wet me, to feel it on my face and on my skin.

@luciabrancati Inspirations:

FILM

The Bridges Over Madison County. 1995 Directed by Clint Eastwood. Based on a novel of the same name written by Robert James Waller.

L: The RAIN as a weather phenomenon in creating suggestions and dramatic nature in many film settings. Associating RAIN and photography comes to my mind “The Bridges of Madison County”. A film directed and interpreted by Clint Eastwood, in the role of a photographer. Heart breaking is the farewell scene under the RAIN with the brilliant actress Meryl Streep.

POETRY

L: A poem that I love is by a great Italian poetess: Alda Merini :

I Listened to the Rain

…….I listened to the rain ……
Asking the silence
How many ribbons of roads
Knotted the heart
…And the rain cried…
Drying in the wind
On sloping roofs
Of desolate towns.

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Photo: @luciabrancati | Untitled

Another intense poem that I have always loved is by Paul Verlaine.
In which he expresses restlessness of living:

It Rains in My Heart
It Rains in my heart
As it rains on the town,
What languor so dark
That it soaks to my heart?
Oh sweet sound of the rain
On the earth and the roofs!
For the dull heart again,
Oh the song of the rain!
It rains for no reason
In this heart that lacks heart.
What? And no treason?
It’s grief without reason.
By far the worst pain,
Without hatred, or love,
Yet no way to explain
Why my heart feels such pain!

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Photo: @luciabrancati | Untitled

MUSIC

L: I know lots of songs dedicated to the RAIN.

I have so many to choose from! I love music, and often it is of great inspiration for my images not only of RAIN. As you well know, I always include a song to my images.

The blues soul of John Lee Hooker, intense, profound as are some rainy days….

Rainy Day by John Lee Hooker

L: And to end, I chose a beautiful ballad, it puts you in a good mood and creates dreams of rainy landscapes of Ireland….

Modena City Ramblers – In un giorno di pioggia

The RAIN @luciabrancati is illustrated through a whole light spectrum of sensitivity, intimacy and intensity. A journey capturing minimal clarity, woven in a filagree of poetic beauty.

Thank-you so much @luciabrancati for sharing your RAIN here too!