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Tom Sebastiano

“I would love to say that I'm a lifelong photographer. The truth is that I spent too many years thinking about it and not doing it. Although I bought my first camera at the age of 15 and enjoyed photography as much as I could afford I never really pushed myself more than the usual teenage photos of my friends.

By the time I replaced it with a more advanced camera I had fallen into the trap of automation. All too often the dial was turned to auto and slowly photographs became what I did when I went on holiday. Over the years I would take time to visit photographic exhibitions or look through books and portfolios but eventually, my camera sat gathering dust. The desire was there but maybe not the belief.

Finally, in 2010 I set about trying to learn how to make photographs. Within a year I thought it would be fun to buy a 35mm film camera, just to shoot some film again for old times sake. It only took 36 exposures and I was hooked. Digital is great but film is beautiful, so beautiful that it wasn’t long before I started using 120 film too. My reasons are no different from most other analogue photographers. Film slows me down, it makes me understand the worth of any potential photo, it makes me think and just feels better. So for me, it’s been a kind of long slow story but you know what they say ‘It’s never too late...’ ”

La Playa is a short series that was shot very early in the morning on the beach at Castelldefels in provincial Barcelona using a Contax S2 and Kodak Portra 400 film.

I like to shoot in mundane everyday locations that could be anywhere. I attempt to expose the invisibility of the familiar through composition, light and sometimes weather and by doing so I hope to reveal the beauty of the ubiquitous.

Instagram: @tom.sebastiano


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