Raffaele Corte: Visual poetry and painterly look

by Yvette Depaepe
Published the 30st of January 2023

Raffaele Corte's father was a very good painter and his image processing is often dictated by the pursuit of the brush effect or, even more, the palette knife effect. He is mostly inspired by painters rather than by photographers. He likes dirtying, scratching or staining his works. To improve his technical perfection, Raffaele sometimes takes pauses and creates images with rigorous and clean traits and contents, even if they are almost never faithful to reality.
I invite you to wander through his gallery and to learn more about the artist behind the images.

'Profilo'

Briefly tell us about yourself, your hobbies and other jobs.

I am a schoolteacher (not photography either art) in Rome, the city where I was born and grew up.
Probably, my artistic sense was born from observation and comparison with the marvels, the history and... the characteristic chaos of this city.
My relationship with photography is very close: the images I took over the years were inspired by some tales and novels. In my free time I like studying and cataloguing, from a historical and technical point of view, the antique and vintage cameras that I have been gathering in a small collection. Nowadays I have some pieces from 1892 to 1953 (you can see them on the page https://www.raffaelecorte.com/collezionismo/). The pieces I collect are from before 1956 - the year of my birth - because I don’t want to be thought a vintage or (worse to say) an antique item!

How has your history and life experiences affected your photography and what first attracted you to photography?

Since I was a child, I've always had a great desire to represent the world. My father loved taking pictures but he even more loved painting and he was a very good painter. The more I saw his creations the more I wanted to give shape to my ideas, but I wasn't as good with brushes as he was. Photography was the tool with which I was able to overcome my frustrations. It was a kind of therapy. I discovered that I could stop the time and was able to re-create it as I wanted, representing reality but also distorting it and adapting it to my sensitivity and my imagination. This is why I like to define my work an “Unfaithful Photography”.

Describe your overall photographic vision.

When I look at the portfolios of other photographers, their characteristic style is the first thing that appears. I would like to have a personal style too, but I haven't been able to find one yet. I think that my style is... not having a style. I am convinced that every subject has a story to tell and that this story cannot be told with the same language. The objects presents themselves and speak about themselves: my job is to listen, understand and interpret. But most of the time, I miss some of these steps and the result is not what I was hoping. Other times, however, the feeling with the subject is so strong that it gives the "miracle" life. The common denominator in my images is the human figure that, if present, is marginalized or represented in an ectoplasmic or image-in-image form, always functional to the enhancement of objects, from the bottom to the skyscraper.

Why are you so drawn by creatively edited photography besides other categories and what is more important to you, the mood,/story behind your images or the technical perfection?

I don't forget that my father's paintings are at the origin of my passion for photography. The creative modification of my images is often dictated by the pursuit of the brush effect or, even more, the palette knife effect. I like giving a material aspect to images, "sculpting" and giving subjects a prominence, being inspired by painters rather than photographers. I like dirtying, scratching or staining the photo. Of course, technical perfection is far from this conception of photography. This is why, sometimes, I take pauses for reflection by creating images with rigorous and clean traits and contents, even if they are almost never faithful to reality.

What generally is your relationship to your subject matter beyond being an observer?
Do you prepare carefully the locations where you are intending to photograph?

As I was able to express myself in a tutorial published in the magazine https://1x.com/magazine/permalink/9410/. It is often the subjects who choose me (it is not the other way around). I'm sure they look to me to be interpreted according to my vision of reality. My only contribution is establishing whether a subject has the characteristics to become part of my personal reality. After creating a mental image, I shoot. For this reason my locations are absolutely random.

What gear do you use (camera, lenses, bag)?
What software do you use to process your images?

I usually use a Nikon D500 camera with these lenses
AF-P DX 10-20MM F/4.5-5.6G VR
AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR (the lens I use more)
AF-P 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR
AF-S DX MICRO NIKKOR 40mm F2.8G ED
While shooting I often use the polarizing filter.
For the transport of the equipment, I use a basic and robust Mantona bag. When I need the tripod, I use my trusty Manfrotto.
To manage and process the images I use Nikon ViewNX-i software and, above all, Cyberlink PhotoDirector. I often like giving the images a "final touch" with the Nik Collection suite, in particular Color Efex Pro 4.

What is your most important advice to a beginner in creatively edited photography and how do you get started?

I have only two recommendations:
1) get to know your creative software very well;
2) get to know yourself very well. I'm still working on this point

Are there any specific directions that you would like to take your photography in the future or any specific goals that you wish to achieve?

I’m never satisfied with my work. This is why I follow aesthetic research in every direction and I propose my creations to platforms like 1x to test my skills. Maybe learning how to like to myself is my goal...

Describe your favourite photograph taken by you and why it is special to you?

Identifying a particularly dear image was not easy because, as I have already said, each of them speaks to me with its own special language.
I chose "Il bucato" because it involves me with its popular elements, simple and despite everything strong and significant. It was also my first paint effect experiment published and awarded by 1x.