People and Intimate Encounters

How would you describe your photographic style and subject matter?
Eolo Perfido: I’m a portrait photographer. People are always my subject. What I’m seeking is ‘the gaze’ – an instrument with extraordinary power, carried through gestures and body language. Together, they constitute a form of non-verbal communication, which I endeavour to translate into images. I work across the entire spectrum of portrait photography: whether it’s street or studio photography or commissioned work. The form changes, the context changes – but the quest remains the same.

What has been your experience with the Leitzphone used as a camera?
Eolo Perfido: The Leitzphone is a real surprise. It doesn’t try to be a phone masquerading as a camera, but is rather a camera that somehow also lets you make phone calls. What won me over most was the colour rendering – vivid, detailed images with deep, natural shadows and a restrained approach to software-based image processing that is rarely found in smartphones.

Are there situations where you would rather reach for your Leitzphone, or does the classical camera dominate?
Eolo Perfido: The smartphone speaks its own language – I never see it as an alternative. I select my tools according to what I’m seeking to achieve and what the possibilities are. What has changed is a new measure of confidence: I know that I can rely on the Leitzphone in my work. It opens up specific opportunities – in situations where discretion, closeness or social invisibility are called for.

“The Leitzphone doesn’t just record a scene; it captures the honest truth of a moment”, sums up Perfido. His images offer an intimate glimpse into the souls of his subjects. This is exactly the area where the Leitzphone, which Perfido describes as “a transparent window into the poetry of the everyday”, really comes into its own. Perfido’s photographs are authentic portrayals of his protagonists, who do not see him holding his smartphone as an observing photographer; in fact, they are barely aware of him at all.

The photographer sees the Leitzphone as a creative tool, which he reaches for as habitually as his Leica camera. Operation is intuitive; the look of the images familiar from the Leica world.