He prefers to be behind the goal, but in Mallorca he made an exception
The sun hides over the Mediterranean projecting its last rays on the bougainvillea from the porch of the Hotel Formentor. I take a sip of lemonade as I review my notes. "Carrozzini arrives in five minutes" they communicate to me.
The italian photographer has come to photograph the new Royal Hideaway Luxury Hotels & Resorts campaign. Yes, the son of the former editor of Vogue Italy for almost thirty years –Franca Sozzani– , the same one who was getting married this month with BeeShaffer, daughter of the editor of Vogue USA, Anna Wintour. How strange life is sometimes.
Franca is, without a doubt, one of the most important women she has had and will have in the world of fashion. And in five minutes she was going to talk to her son. And yes, she was nervous, and no, she still didn't know if she was going to interview him in English or Italian.
"I knew that I wanted to dedicate myself to this since I was twelve years old"
Francesco makes an appearance for himself on the porch hiding his eyes behind dark glasses and in my head I only see the severe image of her mother-in-law with even bigger glasses and a face of few friends. English or Italian, English or Italian…
"Hello! I am Francesco! Nice to meet you! Great, let's go. No matter how long he's been living in the United States, Carrozzini's Italian character is immediately noticeable, his closeness, his simplicity.
Yeah, maybe the glasses are just a shield like the one used by Wintour –or Risto, or sometimes ourselves–. Let's check it out.
THE ART OF GOOD TIMES
“In addition to photography, cinema has always been my passion, I decided that I wanted to dedicate myself to this when I was twelve years old”, he confesses to me. After studying cinema in Los Angeles, Philosophy in Milan and living for a few months in Madrid, he moved to New York – despite his mother's refusal – where he worked as an assistant to photographers such as Bruce Weber, Peter Lindberg.
It has rained a lot since then (videos, campaigns, advertisements, covers... and his masterpiece: the documentary Franca: Chaos and Creation) and that is why we are here today, to witness Carrozzini's work from behind the lens, to see the man behind the photographer in action.
Yes, maybe the glasses are just a kind of shield like the one her mother-in-law uses.
“The art of fine moments”, reads the Royal Hideway motto. “I want to capture real moments: a family, a group of friends... as if I were photographing them for myself, I think everything is more natural that way. I don't want to think of this as a typical campaign” explains Francesco.
If something is present in all the hotels of the chain, it is the search for the Magic moments, of memorable experiences, those that when you return to real life make you smile when you remember them. It is precisely those moments lived by the guests that Carrozzini wanted to capture.
"The Art of Good Times"
“Who wouldn't experience such special moments in a place like this? All of them are real and authentic, like their protagonists”, says Francesco referring to the setting chosen to develop the campaign: Formentor, a Royal Hideaway Hotel.
“It is someone's visionary dream that made this place possible. I think I've only seen a few places like this in my life,” he continues.
Carrozzini thinks there are two ways to come up with a good snapshot: “You can think of it in your head and then recreate it and immortalize it, or just the opposite, think nothing of it and capture that magical moment. Sometimes it's the mistake you make when shooting that becomes the final image."
"I want to capture real moments: a family, a group of friends... as if I were photographing them for myself"
A TRUE TRAVELER
Carrozzini – who hates being in front of the lens even when he's not working – he's lost count of the planes he's taken this year, “and this last month! I am a true traveller!"
"I love to travel, I do it both for work and for pleasure, and I take a lot of pictures of people, I like to observe their lifestyle, but always from behind my camera”, he comments.
The Italian has been living between New York and Los Angeles for a long time, and that is why he finds it difficult to decide: “It is difficult because in New York there is everything but at the same time it does not have a lifestyle as such. Y Los Angeles doesn't have everything but there is a wonderful lifestyle, or at least the lifestyle that I fit in with,” he explains.
The last time he did the counting, he had visited about 100 countries. On his bucket list, "Nepal, Mongolia, Peru, Chile... And honestly, I would like to get to know Italy better," he confesses.
A campaign that reflects the unforgettable moments of guests
A special place for him? “Without a doubt, Spain”, he affirms it flatly. “I walked it up and down with my best friend for half a year. The best road trip I have ever done”, he recalls.
“I also really like Argentina. Those are the two countries, besides Italy, where I would live, because the culture is similar,” he says.
"I'm also a big fan of Japan. I went crazy after a week there. It's so interesting! And I must also say that **America is really beautiful, nature-wise** even if you live in the Big Apple you can escape to the **woods of Connecticut ** and breathe fresh air.”
Formentor, a hotel that has been a refuge for novelists, poets and musicians in search of inspiration
THE MAGIC OF CINEMA
Francesco confesses that he does not watch many television series: “ I like the romantic idea of taking someone to a place, turning off the lights and transporting them to another world. I love the magic of cinema.”
Next year will shoot a film based on a novel by Jo Nesbø, the king of the Scandinavian noir genre.
His influences on him? "Obviously, the Italian cinema of Antonioni and Fellini, that although it is very different from what I do, I always take references in terms of shots and camera movements, ”he says.
The Mediterranean in all its splendor
“A director I really like right now is Jacques Audiard, The Prophet is one of my favorite movies. I also like PT Anderson (Magnolia is a masterpiece) and The Coen Brothers" Francesco comments when I ask him about his preferences.
But there is more: “Oh! And I love Almodovar! He is a genius, he has created something unique. Talk to her fascinates me.
I ask him to recommend three movies and he only thinks about it for two seconds: “Amadeus and _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Miloš Forman), and Eight and a Half by Fellini”.
"Formentor in a word? Enchanting"
FRANCA, AN ICON FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD, THE BEST MOTHER IN THE WORLD FOR FRANCESCO
The screening in Venice of the documentary Franca Chaos and Creation It has been one of the most important moments in his career and in his personal life to date.
“When I finished shooting it I felt I had achieved the most difficult thing I could do. And it is that making a film is difficult, making a good film is even more difficult, but making a good film about someone as close as my mother is even more difficult” he comments.
What do you miss most about her? "Speak. Sometimes I would like to tell him things, ask him for advice... her conversations with her, that's what I miss the most.”
The mythical stairs of the Hotel Formentor
A TRIP TO INDIA, A VIRTUAL REALITY MOVIE… AND A WEDDING!
Before his wedding he traveled to Mumbai and shot a virtual reality movie. What does his future wife think of this chaotic life from plane to plane? “Bee is very understanding. She knows this world and understands my work perfectly Even if she has to keep traveling days before the wedding!”
it cracks me up her honeymoon will be in Italy, "We are going to tour it by boat, starting with Portofino".
And speaking of the future, how does Francesco Carrozzini see himself in ten years? “Not ten, but in twenty years I would like to return to Italy to live in my family's house in Portofino. And travelling, of course.
The biggest challenge of his career to date? "The biggest challenge is always the next one," he replies.
He has long since taken off his sunglasses. He has stopped being 'the son of' or 'the son-in-law of' to be just Francesco for even longer. A simple man, a lover of cinema, from Spain, tireless traveler and eternal enemy of being photographed.
"The biggest challenge is always the next one"