“The most important subject to me is an action, or an emotion, made by a human subject interacting with a natural landscape,”

Simon Bramante

(Drescher, 2017, para.7).

 

Who is the practitioner, when he has been practicing?

 Simon Bramante (b:17 April 1978 – present)

Simon Bramante is an Italian photographer who began his career more than twenty years ago, originally working with film cameras and developing his own prints in black and white (Drescher, 2017, para. 2).  He then moved into digital photography using DSLR cameras and photos captured with his iPhone.  ‘Camera phones represent something new in the history of photography because they are capable not only of recording and displaying images but also instantly sharing them, via the Internet or messaging service’ (Palmer, 2014, p.245).  He uses online platforms including his own website, Twitter and Instagram to display his work.  When he established his Instagram, he posted exclusively iPhone photographs, likely due to the ease of sharing and to establish his reputation but has since included professional digital cameras.  Along with his commercial photography, Bramante works as a creative director, designer and illustrator with online and retail brands (Diallo, 2013, para.9) such as Apple, Dior, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Möet Chandon and Netflix (Brahmino, 2020, para.3)

 

What is the title of the photo you have chosen to analyse?  

Arco Magno, Italy, 2019

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6lIU2JoCPF/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6lIU2JoCPF/

When the photo was produced?

The photo was taken during 2019 based on Bramante’s comments on his Instagram account, when it was posted on 28 December 2019.

{ Looking Out to 2020 } • One of the zen moments of the year, in one of the most beautiful places I have been in 2019.  (Bramante,2019)

 

How was the photo or video authored?

Based on the hashtags from Bramante’s posting on Instagram, the photo was taken using a Sony Alpha digital camera.  This camera is a professional 35mm digital camera with interchangeable lenses (Sony, 2020, para.1) It is likely that the image has been edited in post-production, which Bramante is said to use software such as Lightroom and Photoshop (Diallo, 2013, para.9).

 

The photograph is taken in Arco Magno, in Southern Italy, depicting a male figure looking into the sunset on through a rocky archway on the coastline.  Typical of much of Bramante’s work, this photograph includes nature and a human element and plays with light and shadow, to create what he considers to be portraits, ‘describing human stories…timeless emotions with themes of movement, suspension, natural explorations, and grace’ (Diallo, 2013, para.9).  The location of this photograph is not the usual tourist icons of Italy, Bramante prefers more unique and isolated locations, ‘I’m always amazed with the small towns, those that are not famous and not touristic’ (Drescher, 2017, para.4)

 

How was the photo published?

The photograph was published on Instagram on 28 December 2019, with a caption. Although Instagram is also a mobile platform (app), considering Bramante is a professional photographer and the photo was taken using a Sony Alpha digital camera, it is possible the photograph had been stored and posted to Instagram from a computer rather than a mobile phone.  Based on the caption, Bramante published the photograph on Instagram at a later date than when it was shot, in order to curate his feed.  Bramante comments on this element of planning in his work, ‘Instinct and emotion is fifty percent. The other fifty percent is planning’ (Drescher, 2017, para. 1)

 

How was the photo or video distributed?

Bramante’s photograph was distributed using Instagram with more than 900 thousand followers (Brahmino, 2020, para.2), he includes a lactation tag for Arco Magno.  Linking photographs to a geographical location are a feature of camera phones and Instagram noted by Palmer ‘Most camera phones now automatically tag photographs with their location, allowing images to be browsed and arranged geographically… geodata can also enable community-based photography projects’ (Palmer, 2014, p.250).  Bramante’s caption includes two hashtags to assist with distributing the photograph, firstly #whatitalyis which tags an Instagram page with 2.6 million followers displaying and promoting photos of Italy and increasing the reach of this image.  Secondly with #sonyalpha, which tags the photo with the Sony brand and identifies Bramante as a professional photographer.  Bramante was recently shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Award 2020, which is connected to photographs published and distributed online with a #SonyAlpha hashtag.

Nice to be shortlisted
at Sony World Photography Award 2020
with my texturized recipe!#SonyAlpha #swpa pic.twitter.com/uqxzENorm7

— Simone Bramante (@brahmino) April 15, 2020

Bramante’s followers have provided feedback on the photograph via Instagram with likes and comments, ‘admitting that he finds immense value in the feedback from his followers. “I trust them,”… “They help me to think about the changes in my photography in the last years.”’ (Drescher, 2017, para. 2).  The ability for feedback on Instagram is an integral element of the photo-sharing app and other online photo platforms (Halpern, 2014, p.8).

 

References:

Adorama, 2017, Through The Lens | S04E06 @brahmino, YouTube, 5 September, AdoramaTV, viewed 22 April 2020, <https://youtu.be/gALkt0vWyNk>

Brahmino 2020, Info, Brahmino, viewed 22 April 2020, <https://www.brahmino.com/info>

Bramante, S 2019, Arco Magno @brahmino, Instagram, 28 December, viewed 22 April 2020, <https://www.instagram.com/p/B6lIU2JoCPF/>

Bramante, S 2020, Nice to be shortlisted at Sony World Photography Award 2020…, Twitter, 16 Apr, viewed 22 Apr 2020, <https://twitter.com/brahmino/status/1250449038887071744?s=20>

Diallo, A 2013, ‘10 Instagram Photographers You Should Follow’, Forbes, 28 October, viewed 22 April 2020, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/amadoudiallo/2013/10/28/10-great-instagram-photographers-you-should-follow/?fbclid=IwAR2XB77WGr8AKyVoCtbwgwCFMme3uhD-JjHLECgbAb4VB9tBs3erckBsaFc#1afeb250270d>

Drescher, C 2017, ‘Through The Lens @brahmino’, Adorama, 6 September, viewed 22 April 2020, < <https://www.adorama.com/alc/through-the-lens-s04e06-simone-bramante>

Halpern, M & Humpreys, L 2014, ‘iPhoneography as an emergent art world’, New Media Society, vol. 18, no. 1. NYC, USA.

Palmer, D 2014, ‘Mobile Photography’, in G Goggin and L Hjorth (eds), The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media, 1st edition, Routledge, Abingdon, UK.

Sony Australia 2020, a7r series, Sony Australia, viewed 22 April 2020, <https://www.sony.com.au/microsite/resolution/gear.html>