Jacopo Della Ragione may have grown up along the avenues of Florence, Italy, but Beijing has provided the backdrop for his photographs for the past six years. From working with digital equipment to traditional film cameras, to understanding the difference between taking personal and professional photographs, Jacopo explains to students from the Australian International School what being a photographer really means.
Chase Blout, 11, United States
How long have you been a photographer?
If you consider being a photographer as someone who gets paid, not long – more or less three years. But if you mean being interested in photography with the hope of one day selling pictures, that’s longer – 12 years.
Karl Kim, 11, Korea
Do you like your job?
Yes, I like it a lot. I get to take pictures and get paid for it! I like everything about it. At the very beginning, when I was taking pictures on film and you had to take your pictures to get printed, it’s like magic because you have this blank piece of paper and suddenly something will start to appear.
Kate Jeong, 11, Korea
How many pictures do you have in your computer?
I have quite a lot. Digital cameras put numbers on every picture you take. So I know how many pictures I have taken with my digital camera, and in the one year and a half that I’ve had my digital camera, I’ve taken about 13,000 shots.
Helena Yeo, 12, Korea
What pictures do you like to take?
I like to take pictures that show my point of view, which is different from what I do at work. For work, I take pictures my clients want me to take. As a professional photographer, you don’t always like the kind of pictures your clients want you to take, but you have to do it because it’s your job. For myself, I really love to take pictures of the city, because it’s changing very fast. You can take a picture of a corner on the street today and in a month it’s going to be different.
Precious Ngosa, 11, Zambia
Have you ever been to Africa?
No, I haven’t, although I would like to, and not only for taking pictures. I’ve seen gorgeous pictures from there, and most of the time it’s not necessarily because they are good pictures but because the place is beautiful. That’s one of the reasons why I would love to go to Africa.
Helena Yeo, 12, Korea
When you were younger, did you want to be a photographer?
Yes, even though I didn’t really know what being a photographer meant. I didn’t have a class like this where somebody stood up and told me what a photographer is. But I did want to take and work with pictures.
Ms. Fox, Australia
Do you need to go to university to be a photographer?
Yes and no. There are great examples of self-taught photographers, but if you want to work as a photographer, then some academic classes are good because photography is much more complicated than just grabbing a camera and going “click.” You need to know how the camera works, and you need to know how light works because photography is mainly about capturing light. Then you’ll be able to take the picture you want, not just by getting lucky. There are universities here in Beijing, for example the Beijing Film Academy, which have really good photography programs.
Andrew Lee, 11. Korea
Do you like film cameras or digital cameras?
Both. For work, I only use digital cameras, mainly because they allow me to work faster, but for myself, I usually use film.
Kate Jeong, 11, Korea
Have you ever stopped taking photos?
Not for work. When you start working, you keep working. I did stop taking my own pictures, because those photos are very personal. It’s a lot like art: Writers write when they get inspired, and it’s similar with your own personal photography. Sometimes you can take millions of pictures and be happy with all of them. But sometimes I don’t take a single picture in a week. Or else I’ll take some and I think they are all bad, so I throw them away, all of them.
Andrew Lee, 11, Korea
Are you going to be a photographer forever?
I hope I will, if I can learn from photography every day. If I’m just going to see it as a job, I think I’m going to stop. You can keep it for your whole life, if you want to.
