In search of silence

Ciao,
I’m Alessio Di Eugenio, I’m 25 and live in Rome, Italy. I’m a Student (degree in Sport Science and I’m studying for a master’s degree in Nutritional Science), and an Athlete. I’ve the blessing to work and perform as a futsal player, my main occupation, every day of my life. I’ve grown with the dream of one day becoming an international player, having the possibility to live shooting a ball on a 40x20m pitch. It was a hard claim, I had to study, train heavily, pay attention to my family and friends and give love to my sweet half, in a city that eats everything and everyone. Rome is pure delirium.

I managed to earn with sweat, luck and determination a prominent role in my sport: I’m 25 yo and I played European and World Cup qualifiers with the Italian National Team. I’ve had the opportunity to perform in every of the best Italian Trophies, I’m one of the icons of my team, that joins the Italian Serie A, and most of all, I live with the money which Futsal give me. But the obscure feeling and, for me, critical is that all these things are not enough, it doesn’t satisfy me. My heartbeat, constantly floating between running and braking, needs a stable rate, to settle on the average. My body says to me that in the city, with this job, it couldn’t be possible.

In this social setting, I feel that the only way to breathe pure air and drink clear water is to escape in search of silence between an alpine lake and high peaks; this leads me to peace, a glance of peace.

I realized that not always my senses bring me back to what they are meant for: the silence we hear among the beeches, in the seconds between one step and another over their leaves, or that silence you could perceive on a wild track which pushes you straight to a peak, I’ve never felt with the ears, it seems to me I can observe it. And I always want to show that silence to every person that lives in the city, to every person that never intended or that doesn’t have the bravery to leave that city, neither for a week; although, like Cognetti said (one of the most talented Italian writers): “È impossibile trasmettere a chi è rimasto a casa quel che si prova lassù” (It is impossible to convey to those who remain at home what it feels like up there).

Anyway, what better way than a camera? I’ve never wanted to make videos or tapes, beyond images. I must not let anyone hear anything.

My brother Federico began with photography before than me, with a giant reflex, and giant lens; he carried those with effort, he had, and still has, a special luggage when he travels to move the equipment.

I’ve to escape as quickly as I can from Rome, and I want to be light during my trekking: I do have not either energy or time for heavy loads. The research I’ve done drove me to the world of Micro 43, and I realized that this system was exactly what I needed: light, stylish, the different use of the depth of field can’t ruin my work and my intentions, the sensor allows you to build little lenses, more than other systems. I can have an always carriable camera with a retro look (E-M10), retro like I feel myself towards my peers, or a super performant instrument with the best technologies (Pana G9).

The most frequent trouble I’ve met with their files is to print big (yet on 40×50), due to the noise produced on the file if processed too much strictly.

In my photographic fever, discovering parks, hills and woods near my city, my parents decided to buy a home in the Sirente Velino National Park, in Abruzzo. It seemed to me a Blessing, and I decided to welcome it with the finger on the shutter button, not with the hands clasped.

And here is why the most part of the photos I love are shot there, in that beautiful park which, away from Italy, is not recognized as it should. The Altopiano delle Rocche has become my second home, a beautiful valley that allows me, every time I go back there, to try to capture again that silence, between peaks and canyons, between birches and junipers, that silence which too often people think is sound or noise absence, the absence of music: too often we forget the fullness that silence fill up, allowing us the freedom to think and to observe, to live ourselves and to live our passions.

For sure, we’ve been to Dolomiti, and the landscape is awesome and super photogenic, a paradise for a good outdoor photographer. But they’re not my second home, they can’t welcome me like a warm home in Rovere, our little village in the province of L’Aquila.

I’ve decided to get a dog, Zar, the most adventurous and independent dog above all, a Husky. Our life is changed, mine and the life of my better half, Giorgia. Often, he looks at us and seems to ask: I want to see mountains again, Gandalf (I’m a Lord of the Rings fan, I love this quote). He melts my heart, because there I finally can breathe and give vent to creativity, in search of the famous silence of the hike. Zar frequently is the subject of my photos since he arrived. He looks like he could give essence to my love, and I just want to narrate this love to him and Giorgia.

Photography is the best tool (for me) I know to bring with me the experience that we live together. M43 doesn’t let me obtain a strong bokeh, and for this reason, I often try to set coherently the subject in the environment and put it in the lower third, or in the center. Simplicity is Beauty.

In the short escapes, I like to use the E-M10 Mark II with the M.Zuiko 12-40 F2.8 PRO: a jolly for mountain landscapes and great environments, super sharp and with exceptional quality.

Usually, I mount a polarized filter on the 12-40mm. When I shoot at 12mm I like to fill the pic with great and cloudy skies.

When I decide to leave for many days to the mountains, and if I have the kindness and possibility of another person helping me with portraits, in my backpack (K&F Concept), I always carry with me both cameras (E-M10II and G9) with the M.Zuiko 12-40 F2.8 PRO, the Plastic Fantastic M.Zuiko 40-150 (Incredible performance for the price point, every time I use it I kill the desire of the more muscular brother at F2.8, you’ll be mine one day) and the Sigma 30mm F1.4, classic fit for a dense and soft Bokeh that social media, unfortunately, requires from us; special mention: super vintage Helios 58mm, obviously adapted, for a little bit of swirling in a relaxed mood of shooting.

The G9 for Zar shots is quite handy: focus points and animal tracking are accurate and a better choice than the E-M10 II. The files are a little bit more workable when shooting at high ISO due to higher shooting times.

The editing process runs in the dark and silent direction: I use alternatively Lr and Ps, during the work I try to avoid all the saturation distractions and the greater contrasts. I don’t like in my photos blacks that are too intense and exaggerated whites. The curve is up-shifted on the blacks and negative dehaze, granting a patina to the shot that reminds me of vintage analogic prints. I use many gradient and radial filters, trying to shift the viewers’ attention to the details I consider significant. Very often, greens are the main theme, never saturated too much and tending to blues. Woods between Winter and Spring is the silence I chase, short days and shadows that occur a little bit too early, but never too late. I feel good to myself, just in that moment, and the heart magically settles on the average.

I’m constantly trying to figure out if my photography could or not bring a little bit of the silence I see in those, for me, magical sceneries.

I can’t say from myself, I just feel it.