Gaston Batistini: A master of impossible pictures.
-I have visited your personal website www.gbatistini.com
and the first thing that grabs my attention is the great amount of places you have visited and photographed.
This is only my last ten years trip, since I start digital.
and also upload mi pictures to www.flickr.com/photos/gbatistini,
where you can follow me nearly step by step and also follow my personal evolution in taking pictures
-How would you describe your style?
I like colours, then I would say Colourful, straight line, sharpen. And LARGE ! Because the final point is to print and I like to print in large (usually 1.5m)
-Is Photography for you a way of living?
If doing photos everyday by shooting or processing can be called "way of living" then this is the case.
-In which city are you based?
I have spent more than 25 years outside of Belgium but now, I put my toothbrush in Brussels.
-Do you think you will get tired of taking pictures from
the place where you live?
I am in love with Brussels and specially « La grand Place » I can go day and night summer or winter . When I have 5 minutes free, I go to take pictures from the most beautiful market on the world.
Even, the place where I live is larger than Brussels, every city like Antwerp, gent, Brugge, Leuven and many others are fantastic subjec
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-Could you please tell us a place in your city every
photographer should visit?
LA GRAND PLACE OF BRUSSELS, NOTHING ELSE LIKE THAT IN THE WORLD!
-From Which cities have you taken pictures?
More then 50 countries and lots of cities all over the world. I am just back from Paris and in 2009 I was several times in France, Italy, Spain, Algeria and also China.
-Could you tell us any funny story that happened to you
during your many trips around the world?
This year I was, with two friends, Tienanmen Square in Beijing and every 4 meters there was a policeman. I asked my friends to be in line with the policeman to take a good picture. At the time they went to the place the policeman turned his head to us and said on a way which was not open to any discussion "NO PHOTO"
I am quite happy with the angelic smile of my friends
-Could you tell us a place in Brussels every photographer
should visit?
LA GRAND PLACE OF BRUSSELS
-Could you tell us a few places you would like to
photograph?
Far away projects; India, Vietnam, Yunnan in China and Cambodia
More near city projects; Antwerpen, Mechelen Paris, Berlin, Valencia
This is some short terms projects
-Do you think someone will see your photographs in 200
years?
For sure (ahahah) but more as a digital pre historical work like the Daguerreotype today
-Do you think photography could help to preserve the
environment?
Pictures are better than words to explain a situation and in this way nothing is better to let the people realice our environmental problems
-Do you need any goal to follow taking pictures constantly?
Every day I imagine a new project, new ideas and then new trip. I take pictures nearly every day and I process, trying, testing, improving (or trying to improve) every day. I have an obsession ; To find every day something new to improve my work.
-Could you tell us what does inspire you as photographer?
People, landscapes. I like the impossible pictures reason why I am fully involve with panoramic
for the incredible perspective or for the light or for the perspective and the light.
Often, pictures are already in my brain before to go, also because I was several times on all those places before digital.
-Could you please tell us the name of a photographer that you admire?
On such a question, you and everybody are waiting the name of all the photographers that inspire me. You will be disappointed. I find my inspiration in all the great museum with the master of the painting and specially « Les peintres voyageurs » from the 19 century. Finally, perspective, light, lines, everything already existed before the photography
-Just a quick look to your gallery in Flickr www.gbatistini.com and www.flickr.com/photos/gbatistini
is enough to see that you master the art of panoramic photography, could you tell us something about panoramic technic?
I have started doing panoramic several years ago, because often, when you see a picture, you are thinking on what there is on the right or left side of the picture. For sure panoramic look great for a place like the great market, but I like the piece of life that you find in a panoramic like street life in Madagascar :
Where you see people loading the bus, girls washing them clothes, the guy playing drums on the barrel ect.. It is composed like the painters were doing in the 19th century.
Doing panoramic is quite different, because you don't see the pano in the camera, you see only part of it. Pano has to be composed in your brain before
-Could you tell us which piece of photographic equipment
are you using for travelling?
I am now, using a Canon 5D MarkII and I have to recognize that this is a fantastic tool but I have also to admit that pictures from today and specially in the panoramic case where I am fully involve are completely in the hand of the post production and stitching software and Photoshop, which is a fantastic tool and the natural extension of any modern digital camera.
-Could you recommend us a piece of equipment (lenses,
cameras...)?
My previous cameras were Sony DSCF-505, 707, 717, 828, then a Panasonic Lumix FZ30 and finally a Canon 5D and 5D MarkII. You can easily understand that it make no sense to compare a pre historical camera from 5.5MP with a 21.5MP of last technology.
But I have to add that with my prehistorical Sony I was nominated by the biggest world photo magazine « PHOTO » in 1981 with a picture from the carnival of Venice.
Then the most important piece for photography is your EYES.
-What is what you love about photography?
As you know, I travel a lot, often jumping from one place to another. This is my way of living. I can travel far away for one picture like PETRA (I was in Beirut when I decide to fly to Amman and I spend just 2 hours in Petra) or to go back to the Cairo Egyptian museum for the mask of Tutankhamen.
-Could you please give any advice to someone who would like
to begin taking photos?
Taking, taking, and always taking pictures but also look around the work of the others
-Would you like to you tell us something about your future
photo projects?
Morocco, Egypt, India, Cambodia……but also Berlin, Valencia, Napoli. I have full of panoramic pictures already composed in my mind.
2009 was the year of the biggest hot air balloons project. This picture has been see already more than 300.000 times on internet. 
2010, I have already planed a great project (I hope) in Siena, Italy but ….shut….. This is secret. J
I have also to add something.
I was too dedicated to my photographic work and I forget to promote my photos trough exhibitions. Now there are discussions for a big exhibition in the city hall of Brussels, and several others are planned in France, Italy, Madagascar, Algeria and USA
