Carlo Bosco – “the modern photographer is a group”

The past twenty years have seen an enormous technical change in the whole society. Obviously this has affected photographers as well. Not all have managed this change in a good way but for some the ways of the new time suits them even better than the old ways. Carlo Bosco is one of the photographers educated the old way that have really embraced the new – as a person and as a photographer.

 

 

The technical development within photography has meant so much more than that we are now just able to shoot pretty much any amount of pictures because of digital cameras. It has also meant that the role of the photographer has changed. It has gone from being more technical to becoming even more artistic.

This is something Carlo realized when he got the applications for the first workshop for his School of Fashion Photography Stockholm. “I was a bit surprised because the people applying weren´t the ones I had expected”, says Carlo. “The ones applying had good knowledge of fashion but a very low technical knowledge about photographing”, he continues.



This is a change from the time when Carlo abandoned his former career as dental technician. That was the time when one still had to spend around two years in a darkroom before being trust even to hold a camera in your hands. “With the new technology it is possible to speed up the pace in which people learn the technical part of the job and this gives new possibilities”, Carlo says.

Even though Carlo has embraced the new possibilities one can sense that there is something he misses with the old way and this is the importance that the photographer used to have because of the technical knowledge. “It was always a battle between the photographer and the fashion journalist”, he tells. This came from the fact that the journalist was so dependent on the photographer´s knowledge to get his picture and it simply wasn´t as easy finding a new photographer.

As mentioned Carlo is a product of the old school. He started out as an assistant for Stefan Andersson and Kent Billqivst. When Micke Jansson went to NY he took his assistant position for Carl-Johan Rönn as well. In total he worked as an assistant for almost six years before he was ready to start working on his own.



“The tradition was that you started shooting for “Veckorevyn” then to continue with “Damernas Värld” and the few other fashion magazines that there were at that time”, Carlo tells. A big thing that changed the industry was when magazine “Clic” was founded. “It was the first magazine that had the picture in focus and that meant a lot for fashion photography in Sweden”, he continues. When Elle was launched in Sweden they simply bought Clic to get rid of competition but it still meant a lot of work for Elle.

Even though Carlo have been published and worked with many international magazines he has never committed so much to the international career that he has moved to New York, Paris or London. “I simply haven´t done the last bit that is demanded if one wants to reach the international top level”, he explains.

Though still working a lot it is the newly founded school that is his baby. School of Fashion Photography is just about getting ready for its fourth workshop. The foundation for the school is build on the rules of the present and reflects the ways the industry works today. “We are working  with the full spectrum of fashion photography and when a workshop starts it means a few months of creative chaos”, Carlo says and continues with summarizing the new time in one sentence; “The modern photographer is a group”.



“The education might be focused on fashion photography but it is still important that the students learn how the industry work”, Carlo explains. To make this happen Carlo brings in lots of lecturers from the industry that will cover every angle of it. Among others Caj Bond, Lotta Lewenhaupt, Emma Wiklund and Mika Kjellberg have been speaking. To develop the actual pictures the students have had lectures by neurologists that can explain exactly what happens in the brain when a person look at a picture.

The idea from the beginning was to have four workshops and then a proper evaluation but considering the amount of ideas Carlo still have to further develop the School I would be surprised if it stopped with that. Not the least since the knowledge and inspiration of a person like Carlo is exactly what Swedish and international fashion needs.