Interview with Andrea Vecchiato

 

 

Andrea Vecchiato is not your typical photographer. He is an award-winning film director, an enthusiast of digital media who makes a cameo on the hit TV series Ugly Betty, and writes noir comedies about porn. Oh, and yeah, Andrea Vecchiato is also a comic book hero who fights evil alchemists alongside Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and The Thing, also known as the Fantastic Four. Homotography is very pleased to bring you a spotlight on Andrea’s photography and an exclusive interview with the colorful Italian artist.

 

 

Homotography. Tell us your story with photography. How did it start, and what do you want to communicate with your images?

 

Andrea. My love affair with photography begins in the late nineties with the book SNAPS by Ellen Von Unwerth. It was a present from photographer Nicolas Wagner when I used to live in NY (good times!). There was both a cinematographic feel and a sense of real spontaneity that was really appealing to me. It felt personal like a scrapbook from a life both sensual and romantic. Definitely a very desirable place to be.

 

H. With the digitization of magazines and the increasing popularity of gadgets like the iPad and iPhone, video is becoming an important part of fashion photography. We are seeing more videotorials and video components that complement the traditional editorials. Considering your background as both a film director and photographer, what’s your take and predictions on this trend?

 

A. I just shot two videotorials for Seventh Man magazine. One, PURE MORNINGS is a nostalgic look to my film student days, the other TWO ROOMS is a more fashion affair and it's set in a hotel. Accidentally both pieces deal with love triangles. It's very obvious but I didn't realize it until Nicolas Wagner pointed it out to me!! I am now working on a piece for John Tan and his Visual Tales website. Anyway I love the digital medium in any form, and I strongly feel against any romanticizing of film as "having more soul et cetera". Film pollutes, it involves too many chemicals and acids, so please switch to digital! I believe it's inevitable that magazines have to go digital and video, it's the only way forward, but video requires so much more than stills, and I haven't seen many good things out there on the blogosphere. I really like the video works of Justin Wu whom  I recently met in Paris. He is a very nice guy. As far as IPHONES go, I got mine only so that I could have all my pictures and videos in there.

 

 

 

H. You are the first comic book hero I interview. Tell us the story of how you became a character in the Marvel Comics ‘Ultimate Fantastic Four’ series.

 

A. I am a gigantic geek. Like I constantly watch Battlestar Galactica and shit like that. Not that I speak in Klingon or Elf but still, I am a complete nerd with a gigantic comic book collection. I had written a movie script FROST FLOWERS with cult writer Mike Carey, Holly Hunter was attached to play the lead, and the then not yet famous Robert Pattinson accepted to play a minor character. It was a very good time in my life,  until the project collapsed. Anyway Mike Carey back then was writing for the monthly XMen comic book, and I begged and begged him to create a mutant called Drey. Even a baddie would have been good enough! Eventually Mike started to write also for the Fantastic Four and I sent him an email to congratulate him for his work. He replied - I am glad you like it, because you are in it!- By the way I also make a quick cameo appearance in the very last episode of Ugly Betty!

 

 

H. What’s on the horizon for Andrea Vecchiato... films, photography, fighting more evil alchemists?

 

A. Evil alchemists allowing, I will focus on my writing for the next few weeks. I optioned the rights of an Italian novel titled Italian Cowboys and I am working on the screenplay with the novelist Davide Lisino. It's a noir comedy in the vein of the Cohen Brothers all set in the world of porn. Out of work Sergio Ventura, a private dick chased by creditors and an enraged ex-wife, is hired (reluctantly) as a bodyguard by notorious porn star Johnny Cowboy to protect him from constant anonymous death threats that are hampering his legendary performance on set. Who on earth could want to kill the recipient of five "Smiling Cocks", voted two years in a row "Porn's Nicest Guy"? And what dark secrets  haunt the past of his lovely co-star, porn star first feminist auteur Samantha Blue? I am having a grand time writing it. 

 

 

The featured models include Chad White, Roger Frampton, Atesh Salih, Harry Goodwins, and Benoni Loos.

 

 

+ see more Homotography Photography Spotlights | Interviews