Ariel Cione

Sahara Dunes

2010-01-25T14:17:00.000-08:00

Being into the desert was the greatest experience so far I had in Morocco. I visited two of the tree deserts they have. First I did 2 days and nights in Erg Chigaga, it is quite big one and it is a long road south from Zagora.

Starting the year in tents in the middle of nowhere is an experience that I’ll never forget. Those days it was full moon, I did some night pictures with long exposition making the night looks like a day.

Days latter I keep travelling and reach Erg Chebbi, that make frontier with Argelia. It is the touristiest one, small in size but with highest dunes. This time I was thinking to travel by dromedary to the black desert, who is at the back of the dunes, I couldn’t find an agreement with the guides about the price, so I have a good excuse to come back.

The colours of Morocco

2010-01-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

I still remembered that day when Manuel Velásquez, who is a very talented photographer and very good friend, came back from Morocco. It was more than one year since we met after his trip. We talk about his experience the entire afternoon, there was something in his eyes that I could read, he came back transformed.

My experience was quite different than his, I took mostly southern routes rather than northern ones but the effect was the same.

Flying to Agadir was a good starting point despite the fact that there is not much to see there, but it is in the southern coast, well located and very close to wonderful cities and small villages like Tifnite, Tiznit, Ifni, Sidi-Ifni and Guelmim.

Driving into the south… little by little, the landscape change, the people change, the colours change.

One of the first things that I noticed was how different people dress in the south, and how rich and pure are their colours. There is a very good mix of ethnic groups living in harmony: Arabians, Bereberes and Subsaharians. Most of the Bereberes and Subsaharians peolple wear colourful clothes, then making a huge contrast with the rest of the scenery.

I travelled mostly Anti-atlas, where landscape is dry, very dry ! There is nearly NO LIFE outside the Oasis. There are no many of them but an Oasis is synonymous of town in Morocco. Straight roads for long distances until the next village, hills and mountains alongside the way. And the best company for a photographer, light. Winter light was a gift all the way, I never felt like this in front of such a sunlight, it was powerful and smooth at the same time. It came always in an angle and purity that make things look wonderful. There is when colours shows their best.

Meeting Ariel's photos

2010-01-15T10:53:00.000-08:00

I have known Ariel for almost 2 years now and soon I began aware of his interest in taking photos, but I thought it was just a hobby so I did not rush to have a look at his work.
This summer while I was visiting an internet point I typed his name on google.
It is difficult for me to describe the feeling I got from his pictures. I suppose that something similar have to feel someone who gets a bullet from a gun he thought was a toy. I was literally shocked.
Ariel’s photos were not the work of an amateur who uses the camera to fulfil his spare time. His pictures showed he had learnt how to use the camera in a professional way, and even more important that he had got an amazing eye. “Tus fotos son maravillosas” was the message I sent to him. For the moment there was nothing else to say.

The deal

During our next drinking meeting, just before getting drunk, we decided to do something to advertise those photos and eventually sell some of them. To celebrate our brand new project we took the decision to go on a photographic trip to Donegal in the North of Ireland. It was going to mark the starting point of the new project and eventually enrich the portfolio.

Being a landscape photographer

Of course it was lot of fun and for me an opportunity to learn about what being a landscape photographer really mean.
It can sound very basic but the first thing I learnt was to look up at the sky. I have never realised the importance of it in landscape photography. Its colour, the amount of light that was going through, the clouds shape were all elements that Ariel was studying meticulously and not only as a pre-condition to get a good photo but as part of the photo themselves. I also learnt that the sky shows his best at dawn and dusk, from which follows that the first rule to be a good landscape photographer is to get up early and preferably go to bed early. In a simple statement a landscape photographer need to be in good harmony with the element he wants to portrait.

Life is tough

No rain, no wind, no earthquake, no tsunami can stop a photographer to shoot a good image and as a consequence of this philosophy of life I cannot remember a single moment in which our cloths were dry. We got wet first thing in the morning and we stayed like this for the rest of the day. Honestly for me was easier, I was the driver and I had no camera so very often I stayed in the car while Ariel was getting the rain or even worst was lying on the muddy ground in order to shot from the right angle.

The landscape photographer social life

As we spent our day in the car looking for the right place to shoot we did not meet a lot of people. The places that provided us with this opportunity were the hostels. The owner of the Shamrock hostel on the northernmost piece of Irish land is a very funny character and the place is worth to be seen. But the best encounter we had was during our stay in the Concreggan Mill hostel.

After having our showers and a frugal dinner we went to the living room where 3 people were chatting around the fireplace. One of them was a guy from New Zeeland who was travelling by bike around Ireland. The other two we soon discovered were a retired couple from England who were living in a little town in Northern Ireland. They often spent their holiday in the hostel with the aim of shooting pictures in the surrounding. The husband a very funny and energetic chap who had spent his working life as a cameraman was making joints and sharing them with his new friends. He told us that he was taking advantage of the strong wind to capture some good image of waves in Horn Head. We did not know the place so we wrote it down.
The next day early in the morning we went to visit it. We shoot some photos along the road

but what surprised us was the dramatic view that we got before our eyes once we reached the highest point of the road. We did not know what kind of image we could get from it but we were absolutely sure about the name: El drama

A model, an inspiration.

2009-08-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

Shooting with a model is always a challenge, no matter if she or he is a professional or an amateur. Make a connection with the model is essential if you want to have pretty good results, and this connection depends of many factors. First you have to be self-confident and transmit this confidence to the model, in second time the model have to trust you. And finally you have to know exactly what do you want to photograph.

I am constantly looking for models who inspired me, and most of the ideas come from the way I see the people I photograph. It don’t have to be always very good looking people, this was not the case. When I met Marta, the first thing I thought was, I have to take a picture of this unique face, she has everything that a model needs to be successful. Basically I wanted to capture her sensuality… we shoot fashion, portraits and some of my creative stuff.

It was a very good fun specially when we start to play in creativity. At the beginning always there is a bit of tension, when you start shooting for the first time with somebody, things goes on and this tension disappears, there is when creativity come and the model start to show how really she is. I have to say she impressed me in the way she behave in front of the camera, she felt free when the climax came and started to perform by herself, this is the moment when model and photographer understand each other. So, we got a very good pictures and this is a selection of the best of Marta Gacek.

Revelation of the nature

2009-05-16T05:18:00.000-07:00

A few months ago Leonardo Iglesias, who is an Argentinian journalist made an interview about my life and my work in photography. I have to say it was a great experience to me, just for the fact to talk about my pasion from my point of view. At the beggining he told me it would be publicated in a local newspaper in Trelew, but finally we publicated in La Capital, the most important newspaper of Rosario, who is the city where I was born...So, there are not words to describe the happiness that I and my family felt when that sunday the newspaper came out.

Here is a link to the article "Revelaciones de la naturaleza" publicated on Sunday 8th of March of 2009.

Jaroslawa Kurthyova's studio session

2009-05-04T05:43:00.000-07:00

Weeks ago I was asking for Jarka to make a photo session. It was her first time in front of a camera, and she did it very good. So, I made a seletion of the best shoots that I want to share with all of you.

Irish summer time

2009-05-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

There is nothing more exciting than having a sunny day in Dublin. And of course there is nothing better than having a pint of Guinness. There we go !! both together !!

My brand new blog

2009-04-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody ! I hope you enjoy visiting this space. It's going to be a place where I'll post my news, events, trips... and everything related with my work in photography... And all of you are more than welcome to take part.

Best regards.