Capturing Natural Beauty with Fabio Piccioni

Fabio Picconi is committed to discovering spaces untouched by human hands. We talk to him about discovering the creative potential of the wilderness and the importance of capturing strength in femininity.

Based in Alghero, a little town on the northwest coast of Sardinia, Italy, Fabio’s work focuses on the striking interaction between natural landscapes and human subjects.

The process from idea to an image is one that takes hours of exploring the unknown. Take a look at his diverse portfolio that tells the story of human vulnerability in a powerful natural world.

Piccioni’s Work Redefines Femininity Through Visual Contrasts

It is really interesting how small you choose to represent the bodies in space? Can you speak more on this?

Every image I take has a message behind it. My favourite commentry is that humans are very little compared to the majesty of Mother Nature. The problem is that we are really destructive and often we don’t understand how fragile ecosystems could be.

“humans are very little compared to the majesty of Mother Nature”

That’s why I take my photographs from such a far perspective, I need to make people understand that nature is bigger than us. Nature is our future and is our best friend, and so we have to change the way we interact with it.

“female bodies can achieve the harmony when humans are connected to nature.”

Why do you photograph women and female bodies predominantly? Do you have to direct them to move in a certain way?

Before taking a picture, I “see” it in my mind. Earth is huge and graceful and I think that female bodies can achieve the harmony when humans are connected to nature. I sometimes direct the subject in order to compose my plan.

Other times I make them move around and see what happens. I experiment a lot when myself and my girlfriend go wandering somewhere, as this allows me to be constantly learning new movements or different ideas. She will stand for me for hours, even in the cold, I’m very lucky.

How do you discover the spaces that you shoot?

When I am not at work, I’m often running wild in nature. I spend most of my free time looking for, and exploring, new places. I’ve always been attracted to isolated places. I do different outdoor activities such as speleology, trekking and climbing, so most of the time I’m exposed to wonderful natural places and it’s easy for me to find wild and unknown spots.

Nature can be seen as a sort of escape – Is this true for you?

That’s my story. I’m used to traveling, so I’m not a hermit but quiet places with natural surroundings are the fundamentals in my life. Trek after trek, year after year, I understand that nature can be a shelter. Have you ever spent an hour in a cave watching and hearing the sea in a tempest? It can restart your brain and reset your problems – it’s therapeutic!

“I stay in the cliffs for hours, taking in seascapes where big waves and strong wind are the kings”

What are the seasons like where you are from?

Fall is quite long and brings wonderful colors; I love the red and yellow of the landscape. winter, however, is my favourite. I love to take pictures when winter comes as it is the time of the storms.

I stay in the cliffs for hours, taking in seascapes where big waves and strong wind are the kings. Summer means underwater portraits and night photography. In that season the light is too bright and skies are too flat for me but underwater everything changes and the world becomes magic.

How does a certain season affect or influence you?

Light quality influences my work, the light of winter is not the light of summer, and so I pay close attention to that.

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If you want to see more of Fabio Piccioni’s breathtaking imagery, visit his EyeEm profile or take a look at his Instagram feed.