About me • Claudio Beffa • phoclab.com

About me, my story and my statement (sort of…)

I’m Claudio, an italian guy born and grown up in the heart of the millennial city of Rome. As far back as I can remember I’ve ever been fascinated by photography and by the dreams of distant places.

These passions remained in an ethereal form at the time of my education, that ended with a university degree in Industrial Design and during which I had the lucky chance to follow the lessons of professor Augusto Pieroni (an italian Contemporary Art historian and critic of the Photographic Arts). At that time I’ve also started to learn the basics of digital postprocessing.

Then, after the university, a life-changing event happened: I met Sara, the girl I love and with whom I share my passions and dreams. We have decided to set off and begin a journey to know the world we’re living, starting from the land we are more in love with: Japan. So I started to put in practice all the previously acquired notions about photography. In the last three years we’ve discovered many of the wonders of Honshu island, from the natural beauties of Kamikochi and Kumano Kodo, to the artistic treasures of Kyoto, Tottori-ken and Hyogo-ken, not leaving ignored the technology and lifestyle of Tokyo and Osaka. We’ve also learned the japanese language, that helped us a lot in understanding the culture and character of the people.

The first of my projects about Japan concerns the Yabusame, the japanese ancient discipline of horse-mounted archery, publicly exhibited in Rome in December 2014, and whose shots have earned a bronze medal in the 2014 edition of the PX3 – Prix de la Photographie. Although still in an early stage, my following works are going to widen the view on culture and places of this amazing country. Anyway, above all, my biggest project in constant evolution is about landscapes: my aim is to find the spirit of the places that I discover, and to make it visible in the form of photography.

I’m deeply committed to show the beauty of our planet because I’m truly convinced that people need to fall in love with it to take care of nature. If photography has the power to arouse positive emotions and to awaken the consciousness of being part of our world, I want to use that power as best as I can: I hope that the people who linger to look my shots wish to visit the places I’ve captured, not to say just “I’ve been there”, but to live my same experience and to feel the emotions that lead to understand those places. I actually do the very same thing when I stumble upon inspiring images: my curiosity drives me to undertake “discovery travels”, to learn the history and establish a spiritual bond with the lands I visit. For me this is one of the most enriching things and it represents the catalyst of my passions.

My shooting style and the following digital manipulation don’t follow a specific style: I tend to adapt them depending on the specific situation, so my portfolio is a mix of realistic HDR blends, long exposures, B&Ws… I know, a stylish and homogeneus gallery full of B&Ws is very appealing, but I’m not able to confine emotions in a single category and this leads me experimenting many techniques. Recently I’ve added to my workflow the “luminosity masking” technique, that lets me create photorealistic HDR images, which I prefer by far over the punchy supersaturated HDRs that infest the internet.

With the project I’m pursuing on this website, I hope to ignite in you the same passion for the discovery of places and traditions of our beautiful world that fuels my life and inspires me everyday.

Awards, publications and exhibitions

2014

PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris – 2014 Awards – Non-professional

– 3rd Prize BRONZE for the series “Yabusame” – Category Press/Performing arts

Personal photo exhibition

– Personal photo exhibition held in Rome at Sabatini Fotografia Store, from December 2014 to February 2015. More informations HERE.

2015

Monochrome Awards, International Black & White Photography Contest 2015 – Amateur

– Honorable mention for the photo “Meoto Iwa” – Category Landscapes

Color Awards, 9th International Photography Contest 2015 – Amateur

– Honorable mention for the photo “Canon Missae” – Category Still life

2016

ipa, International Photography Awards 2016 – Non-professional

– Honorable mention for the photo “Cosmo Osaka” – Category Special: Panoramic

ND Awards 2016 – Non-professional

– Honorable mention for the photo “Generations” – Category Architecture/Buildings
– Honorable mention for the photo “Cosmo Osaka” – Category Architecture/Cityscapes
– Honorable mention for the photo “Cosmo Osaka” – Category Special/Panoramic
– Honorable mention for the photo “Gate to eternity” – Category Fine Art/Landscapes
– Honorable mention for the photo “Gate to eternity” – Category Special/Long Exposure
– Honorable mention for the photo “The Great White Heron” – Category Special/Long Exposure

2017

FAPA 2017 Fine Art Photography Awards – Amateur

– Nominee for the photo “Cosmo Osaka” – Category Cityscape
– Nominee for the photo “Cosmo Osaka” – Category Panoramic
– Nominee for the photo “Crossing the threshold of Earth” – Category Open Theme
– Nominee for the photo “Meoto Iwa” – Category Seascape
– Nominee for the photo “Rising up to the light” – Category Seascape
– Nominee for the photo “Sunrise on Amaharashi” – Category Nature

ND Awards 2017 – Non-professional

– Honorable mention for the photo “Tokyo twilight” – Category Architecture/Cityscapes
– Honorable mention for the photo “Contemplation” – Category Nature/Other
– Honorable mention for the photo “Ocean scales” – Category Nature/Seascape Waterscape
– Honorable mention for the series “Study of seascape at sunset” – Category Nature/Seascape Waterscape

EPSON INTL PANO AWARDS, Claudio Beffa, Silver, Bronze, Medal

EPSON INTL PANO AWARDS 2017 – Amateur

– Silver medal for the photo Cosmo Osaka – Category Built environment / Cityscape
– Bronze medal for the photo Green lake reflections – Category Nature / Landscape
– Bronze medal for the photo Canal Grande sunrise – Category Built environment / Cityscape
– Bronze medal for the photo Minoh Taki – Category Nature / Landscape

2018

FAPA 2018 Fine Art Photography Awards – Amateur

– Nominee for the photo “Sunrise in Venice from the Accademia bridge” – Category Panoramic
– Nominee for the photo “The illusion of time” – Category Seascape

ipa int’l Photography Awards 2018 – Non-professional

– Honorable mention for the photo “The Path to The Forbidden Forest” – Category Nature/Seasons
– Honorable mention for the photo “The Sleeping Boat Eater” – Category Architecture/Other
– Honorable mention for the photo “Sunrise In Venice From The Accademia Bridge” – Category Special/Panoramic

ND Awards 2018 – Non-professional

– Honorable mention for the photo “The sleeping Boat Eater” – Category Special/Long Exposure
– Honorable mention for the photo “The Lord of the Valley” – Category Special/Panoramic
– Honorable mention for the photo “Sunrise in Venice from the Accademia bridge” – Category Special/Panoramic

Featured in Pentaxian Yearbook 2018

– Featured in Pentaxian Yearbook 2018 at page 136 with the photo “Golden sugar”. Download the PDF version or buy the physical book at the official page. Thanks to Béla Nagy and Stephen Obermeier.

2019

FAPA 2019 Fine Art Photography Awards – Amateur

– Nominee for the series “Jidai Matsuri” – Category Travel
– Nominee for the photo “Food talking” – Category Travel
– Nominee for the photo “The sleeping Boat Eater” – Category Seascapes

ipa int’l Photography Awards 2019 – Non-professional

– Honorable mention for the series “Jidai Matsuri the Festival of the Ages” – Category Event, Traditions and Cultures

ND Awards 2019 – Non-professional

– Honorable mention for the series “Jidai Matsuri” – Category People / Tavel – Culture
– Honorable mention for the photo “The illusion of time” – Category Special / Long exposure
– Honorable mention for the photo “The gate to the stars” – Category Special / Long exposure
– Honorable mention for the photo “The path to the forbidden forest” – Category Special / Open theme