The Fever
of the World
Deserves Witnesses
Eolo Perfido
To take a good photograph, you must first understand the context, the people, and where you are working.
This photo was taken in Verona, June 2020. The lockdown had been eased due to a sharp decrease in COVID-19 cases and people had begun to leave their homes for local walks. It was a beautiful day, and I was in one of the city squares when I saw this couple meet. From observing the joy in how they met, I realised that they had not seen each other for some time, and so I continued to follow them with my eyes until they embraced. The woman then pulled down her mask to kiss the man, and he did something very unique and unexpected – he attached his mask to her ear. I instinctively moved towards them and took a series of three frames, of which this is the best. At the time, I was torn between the joy of taking a walk myself, and the desire to tell a story about this extraordinary moment! When it comes to street photography, a good photograph is the one that makes us look at reality in a completely unexpected way. It may change how we perceive a street corner, a shadow, the progress of a person, or the simple overlapping of contrasting elements. This is the extraordinary. And looking at the world with different eyes makes us grow.
Photography is one of the arts that represent the ineffable human nature.
Eolo Perfido
I was born in Cognac, France, in 1972, but have lived in Rome for over 20 years. When I was younger, I never thought of photography as a profession. In fact, I was not particularly interested in photography because I loved the world of illustration but, to be honest…
I wasn’t that good at drawing! When I had the opportunity to see a photographer at work, I was fascinated by the whole process and especially by the photos this photographer took. In that moment, I realised that photography was a powerful tool, not only for documenting reality, but also for creating personal stories. I work in many different fields of photography; I mainly deal with portraits, but I also dedicate a lot of time to advertising photography, street photography, and fine art.
The secret of excellence is obsessive repetition.
There are three main reasons I choose Leica. The first one is image quality: Leica’s lenses and sensors are state-of-the-art, and they deliver incredible quality, even in the most complex situations. The second reason is more about the feeling: Leica cameras feel natural, more like an extension of myself rather than a tool I’m using, and I would never be able to work with a camera that doesn’t feel right in my hands. The third reason is how immediate and easy to use they are: I want to have full control over the three elements I work with: ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. Right now, I own a Leica SL2, a Leica SL2-S, a Leica Q2, and a Leica M10. The first Leica I owned was an M. Later on, I started using the Q series for my street photography and the SL series for my portrait and commercial assignments. There have been a couple of times where I have nearly missed a great shot because a stranger has come up to me while I was framing, saying “That’s a Leica, right?”. These cameras have that effect; people notice Leica.
