Driven By Inspiration

Photography By Alessio Trerotoli

Award-winning street photographer Alessio Trerotoli talks about his love affair with the city of Rome, exhibiting at Pritzker Forum on Global Cities, and being at right place at the right time.

Rome, Italy

What is your history as a photographer?

I always had a passion for photography. There is a moment I can’t forget: when I was 10 years old I was showing to my grandmother photos of a little excursion I did with school in a place not far from Rome. My album was full of pictures of my schoolmates and my grandma told me: “But where are you?”. In that moment I realized that there wasn’t a picture of me in the entire album because I always was behind the camera. It was the first time I saw myself like a photographer.

Later, after my graduation, I began to travel by myself: In Europe, then in United States, and in South America. In that moment I didn’t know how to be a photographer, actually I didn’t know who I was. But my camera was with me, and walking through the streets and the alleys of Paris I suddenly found a huge inspiration, an inspiration that followed me in every city I visited since that moment. I didn’t choose to photograph, it just happened; something in me that told me to do it.

How do you think you have grown as a photographer since you first began?

I always have to learn something. I need it. I have to work a lot more to grown as a man and as a photographer. When I see the photos I had in my first exhibition in 2010, I feel a bit ashamed, it means that I’m on the right way. I always study other photographers’ work through exhibitions, documentaries, books or posts in internet. My photography style changed a lot in the last 10 years and I’m really curious to know how it will change in the next decade.

You are mostly known for your street photography. What about photographing the streets inspires you? And what makes you different from other photographers?

What I love about Street Photography is that, unlike studio, architecture or landscape photography, if in that moment you hadn’t been there, that picture would never have existed. If you had chosen another street or if you had stopped to look at your smart phone, such picture would never have existed. The fact to be there, to have taken this picture, somehow makes you feel a little like a special human being. I don’t know the differences between me and the other photographers, I only know that I have to be more focused and work more on my photography, I always have the feeling of wasting my time.

What is the story behind your favorite image?

I like the image with a woman silhouette and the written “amore” on the yellow wall. In that days I was facing a photography crisis. I was stuck and I wasn’t able to take pictures. I often have these moments, as every photographer I guess. That morning I went to an exhibition of Vivian Maier’s photos in Rome and after the show I took this picture. It’s not the best picture I ever taken, but I like it because since there my passion and love for photography came back.

You have won several photography awards and your work has been in galleries all over the world. Which awards, galleries, or festivals stand out to you the most? How has this influenced you as an artist?

Everytime I win something I think: “What? Me?? Maybe there is a mistake!”. Awards are great, but the best satisfaction for me is to read what people write me by mail: they tell me how much my work inspire them or touch them and I really love read comments and reactions, they really are my engine. Beside that, the best moment I had as a photographer was in 2019, when I had the chance to exhibit my series “Urban Melodies” in Chicago at Pritzker Forum on Global Cities, where I also had a flashtalk to introduce my work, it’s been an amazing opportunity and a huge satisfaction for me: I don’t know if I will have success in photography, but nobody could never take me away that moment in Chicago. It’s been amazing.

You travel all over the world but Rome is your favorite city to photograph. Why is this?

Rome is my blessing and my condemnation. I’m so lucky to be born and grew up in a beautiful city as Rome, but in the same time it’s very hard to escape from all this beauty. I always travelled a lot in my life, I lived for a while in Paris and in Chile, but finally I always needed to come back in my hometown. There’s something special here, I love it and I hate it, it’s like a magnet that hold you everytime you want to fly away. I have a weird relationship with this city, but I’m deeply in love with it.

What is next for you?

Good question. I’m looking for a new idea, to create a new series. I was about to open an exhibition in Rome before the pandemic so I’m waiting the end of this nightmare to finally open the show. All this Covid situation really affected my work on the street. I am lack of inspiration and motivation, I’m a bit lost in this moment. But I know that good things are just around the corner, I just need a little patience.