Product Design - IED Alumni Interview: Gaia Anselmi Tamburini
In a nutshell
- IED Milano
- Product Design - 2018
- Photographer and Creative Designer
Who
Gaia Anselmi Tamburini, Product Design Alumna from IED Milano, is a photographer and content creator. She lives in Milan, where she works in various sectors, but mainly deals with still life of designer products. She is a teacher at IED Milan, where she follows special projects and the Thesis course in Product Design.
What
“As a photographer and content creator I work for various brands, mainly related to design, but I also get involved in fashion, publishing, art and nature. I love to explore places outside my comfort zone. I like to think of each photographs as a project that must be developed in its entirety: from the research phase, to the definition of the concept, up to the shot. For this reason I often take care of the campaign’s creative direction: I propose the context, the styling, the lights, the casting, etc. I usually take still life photographs, images that tell the subject in question. I love to take objects out of their ordinary context, creating a different reality around them, which allows them have a different sensation from the classic rational world from which they come. I always try not to reduce everything to a technicality, to a stylistic correctness, in search of symmetry"
(Photo credits: Artknit Studio)
Where
“I was born in Crema, a small town in the Lombard countryside. Having grown up in a small reality has certainly passed on to me values that even today, living in the city, are essential for me. I think the context is important (my mind often doesn't get going if I don't have clean air to breathe, and that's why I often run away from Milan in search of oxygen) but I believe that the people you surround yourself with are even more important. The people with whom I share my experiences and seek new connections are what prompts me to ask myself a few more questions and not to be satisfied with the things I already have or know.”
(Photo credits: Bloc Studios)
Why
“I am not easily gratified, and I believe that the most important thing is the ability to create a personal style that reflects one's values. I think my photos reflect a lot of who I am. And I'm very proud of this“.
(Photo credits: Internoitaliano)
How
“I have always been attracted to the world of photography. Since I was a child I had the opportunity to take photographs; my dad is a big enthusiast, so I often had my camera close at hand at home. But for years I have considered photography a passion that had to remain such. Then, during the Product Design course at IED, I realised that the most essential moment of every project (and my favorite part) was the communication of the project, the storytelling and the image that came out of it. Whether it was planning, luck, design or a startup, the best part for me was the moment in which the work had to confront itself with the audience, exciting and impressing their minds. All this through images. Giving creative and visual direction to projects, creating the right imagery, has always been the part where I felt most comfortable.
(Photo credits: Myhome Collection)
After graduation, I started collaborating with Giulio Iacchetti's studio, where I was lucky enough to discover many areas, and then concentrate on what belonged to me most. The studio, in addition to design projects, also deals with artistic direction, which I understood was my future.
The most useful advice that I think I can give and that I have experienced on myself, is to try as many experiences as possible to find out which is the right path for you. Since work is one of the things you invest most of your life in, it is extremely important to be honest with yourself and make the choices that make you feel good. I think it is very important to give yourself the right time to mature and find your identity. Without the haste to get out of university and change the world ".
(Photo credits: Thesilted Company)
Photography and Design. What does the camera mean to someone who comes from product design?
“I think that for my career it was very important to study Product Design and then move on to photography. I like the idea of studying an object with "designer eyes" and then photograph it. When you start designing, you usually enter a new world, you begin to see a thousand details that you did not see before, you begin to study new situations. The same happened to me with photography, I see things that I did not see before, I have a different attention for details and observe them from a different perspective, hoping it will open people’s their eyes to a reality that causes a sense of inner pleasure".
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