Interview with Fabio De Paola: A bet and a bottle of wine

THE INTERVIEW

Why photography? How did you get into it?

I got in by chance, basically for a bet. I bought my first ever camera in 1996. I was 20-something then. I'd been a qualified electrician — I was rubbish. Then I worked as a chef for a bit — rubbish. I bought a camera — a 50mm Minolta — went to Egypt, and thought: “this is cool.” A friend of mine was a reporter for the Press Association, and did the NCTJ journalism course. He said, "there's an equivalent one for photojournalism in Sheffield. Try and apply for it. Try and get on." He said it was hard, and bet me a bottle of wine I couldn't. Timing was of the essence, because the course started three weeks later. I went in with a portfolio that was dubious. Talked the talk a bit. And was told, "I'm going to take a chance with you." 18 months later, I was the college’s Photographer of the Year. So I was, you know, kind of lucky.

Did you have any kind of inclination towards photography prior to that?

No. But I looked back at the portraits I took in Egypt, and they still stand up well today. Basically, the only thing I needed to figure out was technique.

So, you instinctively had the visual eye?

The “what” and “why” you're doing what you're doing, I didn't know. A couple of seeds of advice at college was: “fill the frame.” In the first few months of college, I was catching up. Everyone had already learned photography, and I was starting off from zero. I had a dark room in the bathroom of the house I was living in in Sheffield. I was practicing. Reading books. Learning the basics. I remember there was one book that David Bailey was talking about. He said he wanted to be a photographer because he knew how to arrange things on his grandma's mantelpiece. He’d say, "that looks better there," and I get that. My work is very symmetrical. Everything has a place and a purpose.

Was there an artistic bloodline in your family?

My brother and sister are very well educated. They both went to university, so there’s intelligence there. But my parents were peasants from Italy. They didn't have time to be artistic. Just hard graft.

Maybe it's in the Italian genes?

Yes… No… I don’t know. But I was lucky that I could take a chance changing career. I had good backing. I wasn't getting bankrolled to do it — I knew if this doesn't work out, I could go back home. I won't be homeless.

If you hadn't have got onto the course, would you be doing what you're doing now?

I'd probably be running one of my dad's pizza shops, and a lot richer. I ran one to put me through college, finished in February, and went to Egypt in May. That was 30 years ago. Then went to Italy, came back, and started that course.