ALEXIS BALINOFF

4MN READ

JUNE 2024

How often in our lives to we get the chance to meet someone that inspired you to start a passion that become really important?

How often in our lives to we get the chance to meet someone that inspired you to start a passion that become really important?

In June 2024, I gave myself the opportunity to spend a week in the north of Tenerife with Sebastien Zanella, an artist who has inspired me to start photography in 2018. It wasn’t only about photography for me. It was about finding beauty in ordinary scene of life. Taking a moment to pause and really appreciate things for what they are.

Meeting him in person felt like peeling back the layers of his art. It wasn’t just about the final photos he shares with the world, but his process, the quiet intention, the deep dedication, the stories that lead to each image.

Beyond his extensive knowledge of photography, he loves poetry and he’s deeply committed to his vision that shape his style. I have rarely met artists so devoted to their craft, someone who has spent decades refining how they see and interpret the world.

Here are a few reflections from that week—thoughts and lessons that stayed with me long after I left Tenerife.


In June 2024, I gave myself the opportunity to spend a week in the north of Tenerife with Sebastien Zanella, an artist who has inspired me to start photography in 2018. It wasn’t only about photography for me. It was about finding beauty in ordinary scene of life. Taking a moment to pause and really appreciate things for what they are.

Meeting him in person felt like peeling back the layers of his art. It wasn’t just about the final photos he shares with the world, but his process, the quiet intention, the deep dedication, the stories that lead to each image.

Beyond his extensive knowledge of photography, he loves poetry and he’s deeply committed to his vision that shape his style. I have rarely met artists so devoted to their craft, someone who has spent decades refining how they see and interpret the world.

Here are a few reflections from that week—thoughts and lessons that stayed with me long after I left Tenerife.

A photographer literally draw and write with light. Photo = Light and Graphe= Draw or Write.

Most of your photos are made before pushing the buttons.

Always be an amateur, always be a kid. Be proud of being an amateur.

Your camera is a machine to ask questions.

Observe master photo books then look at your own photos.

Have convictions in your decisions.

The successful path is your path.

Shoot a lot to have a lot of words to write your poetry.

The easy way is always the wrong way.

Cultivate your difference.

As artist, we construct beauty.

Mix different medium, find color palette in painting and apply it in grading

Learn To See

Its not about the outcome (painting, photo, poem ect…) its more about understanding how they see the world

Its all about trying and failing, practicing.

Total photography is a lifetime of photo. Photos are given to him. He’ll have all his photos when his dead.

Obsession

He use a automatic analog camera to not care about the technic and forget about his photos so he can rediscover them later.

To make a book, 2 pictures talk with each other, together they create another world.

Bring mystery by saying a little than telling the whole. Let the people imagine the rest of the story.

Calls himself the king of the blind people.

Commercial is to sell. Art is to question.

Don't be attracted by the obvious.

Link to his work: https://szanella.com/

Feeling like we could be a great fit? Reach out!

Location

Sunny Barcelona, Spain

Boring

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© Alexis Balinoff Studio 2024

Feeling like we could be a great fit ?
Reach out!

Location

Sunny Barcelona, Spain

Boring

Terms & Conditions

© Alexis Balinoff Studio 2024

Feeling like we could be a great fit? Reach out!

Location

Sunny Barcelona, Spain

Boring

Terms & Conditions

© Alexis Balinoff Studio 2024