In this episode of the Fashion Photography Podcast we meet Luca Meneghel (@lucameneghel_).
In today’s episode:
We talk about the importance of Visual Culture and where it can lead you.
Shooting in tiny places, in your home studio and on location.
How he built his contacts and how he got his relationship with Vogue.
How to talk to a first time client – Do’s and Don’ts.
You can ASK US HERE everything you’d like to know know and we’ll answer in the next episodes!
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Hello, photography lovers and welcome to another episode of the fashion photography podcast with me Virginia!
If you’re here for the very first time, this is the show where every Wednesday we’re arranging a meeting for you and one of the amazing artists from our industry and every other Friday – I’m giving you some tips and tricks on how to build a sustainable photography business.
In today’s episode, we’re having a brand new guest.
And this time, we’re going to talk about the importance of visual culture and where it can lead you were also discussing shooting on tiny places like for example, bathrooms, and also in your home studio.
And in case you don’t have enough space for a home studio, we also talk about shooting on location.
Today, you’re going to find out how my guest bill his contacts and how he got his relationship with Vogue.
Another topic in this podcast is going to be how to talk to first time client and my guest is sharing some do’s and don’ts.
I bet you’re going to learn a lot from today’s interview and then you’re probably going to feel very inspired. And if you have a gorgeous fashion or beauty editorial, don’t hesitate to submit it to our friends from Lucy’s magazine they’re waiting for your work in the best part is that your photo might become their next cover.
So now it’s time for our podcast!
Luca Meneghel
Hello, I’m looking at a girl I’m a fashion photographer from northern Italy in and based in between Milan and Bolzano.
Milan – everybody knows it and Bolzano is a tiny town next to Austria.
Virginia Y
Have you been born there?
Luca Meneghel
No, I’ve been born in Beluga that isn’t even tiny village in the mountains in the middle of the Dolomites. But I moved to Atlanta for the University where I studied design. And then I kept living here. I’m in Baton this moment
Virginia Y
How from a little village you decided to go for design and then photography?
Luca Meneghel
Since I can remember I was very, very, very passionate and drawing. And they always thrown in a very, let’s say figurative way. So there was nothing that makes it different from photography, photography was just the evolution of it, like a logical evolution. I chose to do design because ever since University and never been really into photography, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do. I was fascinated by many things. And they found this university that was a little bit hippie a little bit about, let’s say design thinking. So it was a little bit of graphic design a little bit of any kind of visual communication, a little bit of product design. So it was very, very bright. And it was perfect for me because I wasn’t looking to get specialized in something it was looking for something to understand what I wanted. Since my first semester, I realized that design was not what I wanted. They wanted photography.
Virginia Y
How many years ago was that?
Luca Meneghel
I finished in 2012. Anyway, so it’s quite a long time.
Virginia Y
I see this question so often, and people are asking what they need University for photography. So what’s your opinion now? You’ve been there. So
Luca Meneghel
I’ve been there. I couldn’t imagine my life or my career at the moment without this university nonsense because of what strictly University got me and that all the experience all the people on the inputs. I guess in general, it if you want to be a photographer, I don’t think any necessarily photography university because it’s mostly about technical part. But I guess it’s very important to go to university to get in with different people, different ideas, and then for a wider sense culture. For me, for example, there was very important to get visual culture. I don’t know background, because my one was very weak.
Virginia Y
That’s so weird for me to know that it was weak. But you said that you’ve been born in a very small village. So maybe it’s normal. I’m just comparing to Milan, where you’re also working. And it’s funny for me, because I was recently in Milan, and me and George, the editor of the show, we were talking about the advertisement, and all these beautiful pictures around Milan. And that probably if someone is born in Milan, they instantly have this amazing visual culture.
Luca Meneghel
That was true mostly time ago. Now I feel like due to internet, either you’re seeking for something like this, and you can find it literally everywhere. Online, you’re going to be passing some complained offline.
Virginia Y
I know that you’re also traveling a lot
Luca Meneghel
Quite a lot. Because, again, my career as began in Bethesda, and especially the sufficiency nimble diner very smooth. And so that was focusing a lot to go around and make contact. And now the thing is kept going. And my contract has become like extra work. And so I have to travel every now and then like once or twice a month.
Virginia Y
Let’s talk a little bit about those relationships and your network. How did you got to expand it?
Luca Meneghel
Well, it all started, I guess, again, from the university, especially because it wasn’t designed University didn’t. When everybody needed a photographer I was one of the few people were like referring to me. So got some nice conduct. And then of course, nobody wants to stumble down, people move out. And once they were out, they needed a photographer again. Nowadays a word quite a lot in Estonia is not very common country. And I’ve been there once really, really randomly on holidays because I met a mother. And she told me Austin is so beautiful and then didn’t know anything about Estonia. And I said, Okay, we’re not a winder really randomly didn’t know anybody there. I met a friend and she was a stylist. And then we started doing it just for fun. And then we got good friends. And now we’re working together. And then when I went to Estonia to shoot my first of all good Doria, she was the stylist and and then that was happening in a really, really weird way. For me at least, very spontaneous. I think
Virginia Y
It’s not super weird, because in my personal opinion, stylists are super important because they’re not as many as photographers are. So if you have a stylist, and if it’s a good one, you’re one step ahead of everyone.
Luca Meneghel
In general, I agree in a wider sense that I really believe in things. And I think if the components of the team are working well, then the result is going to be much better or at least way easier.
Virginia Y
Completely agree!
Do you want to tell us a little bit more about your relationship with Vogue and how did it all started?
Luca Meneghel
It started in a very spontaneous way, I had a personal project about mixing bodies together. And inspired from a little bit from the early softness, me, I guess it’s called in English, the platters myth about the creation of the genders. And it did it as a personal project. And I was trying to get it published. And I don’t know why I had contact from somebody spoken Vogue Portugal and then sell it straight away to them hoping for something. Five minutes later, literally five minutes later, the director of folk, Portugal wrote me back Oh, I really liked the project. It has nothing to do with us. We will not publish it. But I really like it. And there was a Okay, that’s still a very good feedback. Thank you very much for your feedback, I would keep you updated if something comes up. And then they were like, yes, please do. That’s how it started. And then this Estonian project has began and then it was sending more adverts in public land, and you know how it works.
Virginia Y
Okay. And for the people that don’t know how it works, do you want to tell us because we also have some beginners that the audience.
So when you started with this super random email, what happened afterwards?
Did you reach out to them with already done project or maybe asked for a mood board?
Luca Meneghel
Had a mood board in mind, and also on paper. It was still very vague. I sent it to her and said “okay, I would like to do this project”.
But unfortunately, many things where still uncertain, some of my moodboard was was a little bit bold, let’s say. Like it was promising to shoot in a place that I wasn’t sure I could shoot.
Having a model that I wasn’t sure she would have been in the place. So altogether was a little bit bold, let’s say. But then everything worked out. And first they said “Okay, we’re interested, but we won’t you to letter”, when I send a the final work, they said “Okay, it’s very interesting”. And then they picked the picture they want it
Virginia Y
Sounds like you’re having a lot of luck.
Luca Meneghel
Yeah.
Virginia Y
So nice. That’s good for you. And what about afterwards? Did you have any conversations after this project?
Luca Meneghel
Well, I’m keeping in contact with, with an editor for because then I didn’t talk anymore with the director and then talking with an editor. And we did another editorial together in November, I shot it and it was in December, it was very similar to the first one the same kind of attitude, just a very strong relationship between place and model and this 70s kind of time capsule places that they seem a little bit forgotten. Yeah. Where is Dylan Thompson? Hope more things will come next for sure.
Virginia Y
Have anything changed for you since Vogue?
Luca Meneghel
Not at all.
Virginia Y
Oh, my God, that’s so weird. Usually, it’s exactly the opposite.
Luca Meneghel
Not directly, let’s say, I didn’t know what to expect afterwards. And I don’t know if my perception has been changed from other people. I would say that, in general, in this last year thing has been going better and better. I don’t know if it’s depending on Vogue, or it’s depending on other things, or if it’s a mix. But I don’t know, I don’t think that specific moment made something in particular,
Virginia Y
Maybe in the future. In our next conversation, you’ll be able to give me more details on that. You mentioned the relationship between the place the location that you’re using, and the model. And it’s very interesting in your photography, that definitely the location is a great importance. Why is that? So?
Luca Meneghel
I don’t know. It’s because of my design background, and super fascinated by the relationship of human being into space. But say, in the same way that I want to model that gives me some positive mood, I want a place that is very strong as well, with them, on the same level is not shooting the model or is not shooting the place. It’s really strong mix of them. They couldn’t survive without each other. Yeah, that’s a thing that really fascinates me. That makes for me a little bit boring when I have to shoot in the studio. Light wise, I like to work with ambient light, and play with it more than actually creating the light because somehow I feel the relationship between the model and the place. And then it’s what I want to represent.
Virginia Y
But this can be so challenging.
Luca Meneghel
Yes, sometimes it’s not even possible. So not all my project, or in this way. Or for example, the last collaboration I did with the German brand. Duluth is completely the opposite. It’s a very strong flashlight, just the worst the models, but that’s specifically because we want to play with colors. And that was the main idea.
Virginia Y
Well, do you want to share with us about a project that you did? And you really wanted to us to mean like, but there was no chance for that? And what was your decision? How did you act,
Luca Meneghel
for example, that campaign for quality on it. It’s a little brand from Atlanta, it was live first collection of Calypso on it. And they wanted some natural feeling. But the place where we were didn’t allow us to use any natural light. So the overall idea was a little bit to recreate what could have been a window to in my mind, it was like, Okay, let’s pretend this isn’t like an Indian light that I like. But it’s a little bit weird, because that’s not the way work usually, there is always a little bit more challenging.
Virginia Y
Oh, sure. And do you feel confident using flashlights,
Luca Meneghel
quiet, but not as much as playing around with the engine light? I would say and we care with strobes.
Virginia Y
Most of your photo shoots were made on location, and I just cannot miss the fact that sometimes can be super hard to find the right location. Yeah. Do you have a list of them? And how do you approach people? Can you give us some advice on that,
Luca Meneghel
in the nicest case scenarios, that’s something I work together with the producer. So most of the time, especially when I work abroad, have a producer looking for location and scouting for models. And then it makes men so much easier, because then I have to choose between them that is not like going blindly and look for them. And yeah, on the other hand, it ruined my holidays. Because every time I come around, I think like okay, this is could be a very nice location. And then many times have thought about making a list, or like taking snapshots and organize them very well, which I failed every time. But I kind of have a good memory about that. And if a place tracked me in some way, then I remember it. And then it always comes up when it’s the right time. And then of course connection again, like people with a similar taste are very helpful, because then you can ask around and you can trust their judgment.
Virginia Y
And what about the arrangements of booking the location, if you’re not using producer what we teach you?
Luca Meneghel
It depends where they are, I would go there personally, if possible, otherwise, I would just email or call them so far as to be honest, when it wasn’t commercial. And it was my personal project or something like this. And met so many really, really cool people willing to help because they liked the idea. They like what to do, or they like to be helpful somehow. So he got very nice location for free. For example, that was very surprising for me.
Virginia Y
That’s so nice.
Luca Meneghel
Yeah, that’s not really happening in Milan so much. But outside of Milan, maybe people are less overwhelmed by people asking, oh, can we shoot there? And so it’s something playful and interesting for them?
Virginia Y
Do you usually provide something for the people that are taking care of the location, like photos or somebody Of course,
Luca Meneghel
especially when it’s not commercial, I want all the people that participate in the project, they’re able to, to use the picture for self advertising. If it was a hotel, they can clearly use it on on social medias and stuff like that.
Virginia Y
That’s what I usually say social media. And usually we’re ending up there because everything else I personally consider advertising. Adult Social media is all about the advertisement. But you know, we’re having free location. So you should deliver something.
Luca Meneghel
Yeah, of course. I mean, for them. It’s free advertising, but they don’t really know what they’re going to get in return. Absolutely. It’s still a very nice thing to do it strongly believe that social media, or advertising, but mostly they need like an editorial plan that is consistent. Otherwise, it’s just a generic random picture. And if you have like a random shooting to your Instagram, even though they are nice, they’re going to be a little bit outside the usual. So I’m not sure if they are so helpful, like commercial wise.
Virginia Y
Yeah, you can be right. And talking about social media Do you want to share with us what’s your Instagram handle?
Luca Meneghel
My Instagram is a little bit abandoned, like they did when it and very critical about me where you can of course, what is your main Instagram and on my website is not all my work, it’s the thing to consider. The for some reason I want to share, I’m very critical. So if I don’t have anything that I like, I just don’t publish anything, which is very bad for my social media. That’s the reason why I have really, really few followers. I hardly believe that people are insisting in my life. It doesn’t come natural for me to say, Oh, I’m going not living here. And this is what I’m eating.
Virginia Y
Yeah, I’m struggling with that, too.
Luca Meneghel
Yeah, it’s, I don’t know, it just doesn’t belong to me this idea.
Virginia Y
But if you guys want to support him in his hard journey of social media, you can find the link to his Instagram and also to his website in the show notes. So look at what is the most challenging location that you have ever been to?
Luca Meneghel
The most challenging. I guess it was a campaign for New Balance. It was a summer campaign. And we shot it in winter, because New Balance Italy? Well, it’s a little bit complicated, but they need material.
Virginia Y
Yeah, they all do it like that. Yeah, in the wrong season.
Luca Meneghel
Then tonight, national brand didn’t send them, or they don’t have this particular particular one. And they realize they don’t have it when they need it. So the timing is super short. And I wanted to share today in a tower crane deposit. And it was amazing because I bought 10 day create. And also the color were matching with the shoes very perfectly. But it was on a very, very bad place. In the lowest part of the valley next to a river it was mid November, no sun is coming. I guess the highest temperature we saw that day was one and a half degree and the mother was wearing summer clothing. Mine. It was insane. And then of course everything was like concrete or metal. So touching them or doing whatever stuff she was doing in there was like super bad. She was lovely. And then she didn’t complain at all till the end, then she was swearing at me a lot. We were over and we were alive. So it’s fine.
Virginia Y
And what about the easiest location that you have ever used? And I have a guest here, by the way,
Luca Meneghel
probably if you go on my website, design scene magazine, editorial, the one in the red bathroom.
Virginia Y
Oh, I thought it’s going to be the one with the Marvel blocks.
Luca Meneghel
That’s particular bathroom is my home bathroom. So I mean, it was super, super comfortable. I didn’t even have to change my clothing. It was telling pajama or something like
Virginia Y
that. When you have to work in a studio, do you usually book a studio or you use your own home?
Luca Meneghel
It depends how big and in the studio, like I can use part of my home as a studio, for example now. And like literally, before I call you, I was working on a campaign for new balance, and it’s just still live. So it’s not a problem to work in at home as a studio. But when you have to shoot people, I need a bigger space. So either I go on location, or I rent a studio.
Virginia Y
You mentioned you balances your clients several times. How did your relationship started?
Luca Meneghel
My first contact came through common contacts were contacts for some reason you balance Italy’s based in Atlanta. Oh, I was very surprised. To be honest. It’s one of the reason I’m still here. Partially, I got a lot of work with them. And we get along well. So it basically started with like sharing my contact to them. And then they call me. I remember it was in 2016. And it was a pre I got this email saying I am from New Balance. And we like your work. We need you for like shooting a campaign. Can you come over? And then of course, they went over like straight away. And they told me Okay, yeah, wouldn’t it we have this family of shoes. It was like, five, I guess we need the picture till Monday next Monday. And that was really, really early. They needed on a model. And the model needed the styling and makeup and everything. So I just said very calmly, yeah, yeah, sure it’s possible. And we will do it. No problem. And then as soon as I close the door, I start calling literally everybody on the phone and say, Are you available? Like have this sounds big? I don’t know. But we really need to do it like tomorrow. And luckily, I find everybody and then it worked out pretty well.
Virginia Y
I think being flexible with a client, especially in your first meeting is super important. But I think it’s also a little bit tricky, because sometimes people are so pushy, and clients are very, very demanding. So if you’re super flexible at the very first moment, they expect you to be flexible until the end of your relationship. And sometimes the end can come simply because you’re for some reason not being able to adapt flexible for this particular project. So are they still like that?
Luca Meneghel
To be honest, because yes, they are like that. I
Virginia Y
think it’s a little bit tricky for real.
Luca Meneghel
Yeah. I mean, they’ve been always super, super honest about timing and stuff. And we try to think how to make it more convenient for both together because on one hand is somehow negative for me because of to Russia to work nights or stuff like this. Yeah. But on the other hand is not super positive for them as well, because they mean…
Virginia Y
They cannot get the best..
Luca Meneghel
hundred percent Yeah, maybe I don’t know, 80% in time, but is not hundred percent. And the price is probably the same or even worse, it is a little bit tricky. But they said very, very honestly, that they don’t know when they receive, for example, and I think there are specific is not like common like this. But in this particular scenario, they said, We don’t know exactly which material we’re going to have. But we know when they’re going to need them. From those two events, the time span is like one week to week. So we cannot do anything in advance. In general, I think what you say it’s completely true, like being super flexible also with payment or fee and stuff like this is a very risky, but somehow you understand if the client is trying to
Virginia Y
push you, yeah.
Luca Meneghel
Or if is actually not possible to do it in another way.
Virginia Y
Yeah, that’s true.
Luca Meneghel
I think you can just behave accordingly.
Virginia Y
Yeah, completely agree with you. Nowadays, in my personal opinion, social media is really pushing us towards being super fast, super productive. Nowadays, social media is so demanding.
Luca Meneghel
It is true and the complicated stuff quite a quite a lot, even though I kind of started working with social medias in the same time, so I never worried back in the days when used to do at an all five picture for a campaign in that was over for alpha year. But you need a campaign. And then you need five pictures, six picture 10 picture for a campaign and then you need 50 for the social media that can be details and then they don’t need to be delivered super quickly. And then it’s complicated. But I guess in another sense, it gives you the opportunity also to experiment a little bit more and to be a little bit bolder, because the content on social media, they have a very limited lifespan. And you can just say, Okay, I’m going to try something if it goes, Well, it’s fine. If it doesn’t go well. They have one post that,
Virginia Y
yeah, people will forget it. That’s it completely, right.
Luca Meneghel
Especially when you shoot a campaign, there are many people involved. And it’s very hard to try very different things. But then if you have a certain amount of shots you have to do for the social, then everybody’s like, okay, for the social, we need those guidelines, and then it’s pretty much up to you.
Virginia Y
And since we’re talking about clients campaigns, I want to test you what’s in your opinion, the biggest mistake that people do when they’re trying to win a client.
Luca Meneghel
Like in every human relation, you need to understand who is who is in front of you and what they’re aiming to and and how hard you can pull the strings without making them. And when I’m in the client, either I’m looking for backstage or an assistant and stuff like this. My biggest problem is arrogance. I don’t know, I don’t see the point of being too arrogant, personally.
Virginia Y
And where does your work start? And where does your work stop? And what’s the most pleasant part? And what’s the part that you don’t like that much
Luca Meneghel
it like and hate every part of it, I really like to create a new idea to start planning it. But in the same way, it gets very frustrating when you can’t really find what you want. And it can be very long and time consuming. And same way I really like to shoot, of course, I mean, wouldn’t be weird otherwise. But sometimes you get the impression that you shot to ready everything you could, but you still have plenty to shoot, then you have no more ideas on your mind. And so it’s again, love and hate and post production, I would say it’s the closest to hate that is to love somehow because the best production in in all together editing and actual post production, like choosing the picture. And that can be super confusing. And also working them on Photoshop. I don’t know you finalize it. But I’m the same way. There’s so many details that you need always to work on. The more people you add to the project that they can say their opinion, which is sometimes really positive. Sometimes it’s just, oh, let’s try it several different option. And let’s work on this picture, like forever, then trying to slowly move out from the post production in the sense that doing the least possible.
Virginia Y
I wanted to ask you about that. Yeah, if it’s a big struggle, why don’t you just hire retoucher?
Luca Meneghel
I’m a little bit a control freak. So it’s very complicated to get it out. On the other hand, I want to get rid of post production in a sense that I want my work looks more natural and searching more and more for natural Obama picture. So also the amount of Photoshop needed is going down. But that I was working with an agent like two days ago, which I hope went well.
Of course, according to them is still too much post production in the work.
Virginia Y
So we need to make even less Yeah, well, you can just get rid of the retouching.
Luca Meneghel
didn’t sound bad at all. I mean, it’s Yeah, great.
Virginia Y
Tell us more about this meeting with the agent. How did it happen? You don’t need to tell us the agency or anything like that. But maybe for the people that have never had a chance like this, it’s going to be very interesting, I suppose.
Luca Meneghel
How it happened. It happened very simply. I emailed them with my portfolio and a kind of description of me and what is my photography for me? And they wrote me back. Yeah, you’re interesting, and we would like to meet you. That’s a nice to be honest, it’s a very big, he didn’t want to send me straight away. And they want to keep me in the sort of development phase, which is anywhere good result. And we’ll see what happens.
Virginia Y
Yeah, that was my next question. Because you mentioned that you are staying in Italy for now, because of your clients. But I was wondering, where do you want to move next?
Luca Meneghel
Item charismatic, I mean, I’m, I’m really passionate about what I’m doing and really spending so much time on it that I I’d rather have, it’s up that I like in a place that I dislike so I’m okay with moving around.
Virginia Y
Once you move, what do you think is going to be the hardest part for you? Because one of the questions that I love asking is if you had to start your career today for which to in a in a different way? Or what would be your steps? Exactly. So maybe if you move to another city, this is exactly what you would have to do. I
Luca Meneghel
wouldn’t do anything completely differently, that I would definitely spend more time looking around at really high quality content that could be books, magazine exhibition, and stuff like this, because f5 can the beginning I was following photographers that are not so interesting. And so my perception of photography has grown this lower than they could have visual culture, they would have pushed harder in that direction. I wanted
Virginia Y
to ask you about the project with the marble because it’s obviously one of my favorite one.
Luca Meneghel
There is this quarry next to the town I live in that produced the whitest marble on earth. And I was super fascinated by this amazing place. Also, because this weird perception of it, because in some way, those huge blocks of marble that doesn’t really feel your next to them or on top of them, because they’re just big and heavy. They look so light and fragile. So I wanted to play a little bit around and to put a model there make it feel lost somewhere in this labyrinth of cubes. In other shootings, there is no real interaction between the model and the location is just there. It’s forgotten in this place that is also a little bit forgotten, because it’s just a pattern of white cubes with nothing going on. It was so fascinating and so inspiring the place that I was so happy every time it took a picture because it was like, Oh my god, those looks so amazing.
Virginia Y
Okay, and in our Facebook group, the fashion photography podcast now very long ago, a personalized what do we think about the idea of having your personal producer? What’s your opinion on that and what a person can expect from their producer,
Luca Meneghel
if you want to go on the to the different people involved like location scouting, there’s the casting director and stuff like this. But let’s say a producer is either who does it or who coordinates all this role and the person who makes the shooting possible. So it’s literally the one who translate your vision into something more practical like giving you all the pieces that you put together in within a picture. The idea of having a personal one is lovely because of course, then you get to know the person is going to be easier and easier to work together and to be aligned. But on the same page, working with new people force you to face challenges because sometimes your vision is not the only one and well often your vision is not the only one and being first to mix your vision with the vision of somebody else can lead to very good result. And the idea of working always with the same crew it’s really risky for me especially in the beginning because you you get tacked on doing the same all the time.
Virginia Y
And also in your relationships.
Luca Meneghel
Yeah, especially when on a really high level to have your own producer in makes your work very, very dismal.
Virginia Y
Is there something that I didn’t ask you but you wanted to share?
Luca Meneghel
Oh, I feel like it’s quiet everything.
Virginia Y
Everything for now. But now for the next year you want to say big thank you for this interview. It was lovely having you here.
Luca Meneghel
Thank you!
Virginia Y
I really hope you enjoy this interview! And if you want to support our guest, you can check out the show notes on photography podcast.net. There you can find his website Instagram account and also a little preview of his work on photography podcast.net is also donation button. So if you want to support our show with $1 or two per month, you can just follow the quick and easy process and that a way to become part of our big family is to join our Facebook group called the fashion photography podcast. Thank you guys so much for being with us today and I cannot wait to see you next Wednesday.