ABOUT
My name is PAUL BARBERA. I am a photographer. ‘Where They’ is a visual documentation of the creative environments of artist & creatives and people that I meet during my travels for assignments.
My mission is to showcase, share and inspire, but I also want to celebrate the places and types of lives that I personally find interesting – of late, focusing on neurodiversity. I believe that by highlighting the diversity of creative minds, I can encourage others to pursue their own passions, especially those who are affected by neurodiversity like myself.
BIO
Paul Barbera is a photographer & director with an observational reportage style that captures the emotional honesty of his subjects. With an adaptable yet distinct visual approach, his work spans everything from intimate everyday moments through to aspirational luxury living.
His visual style has been sought by Marriott Hotels & Resorts, New York Times/T Brand Studio, Aesop, Herman Miller, Bugaboo and Hermes.
His assignments take him regularly around the globe, working with renowned lifestyle publications such as Elle Decor Italia, Vogue Living, Record Magazine, Frame and Mr. Porter to capture candid portraits of interesting people including Gaetano Pesce, Massimo Vitali and Patricia Urquiola.
His personal projects include the acclaimed Where They Create series, a visual documentation of artists in their creative environments. He also recently published “Where They Purr” with Thames & Hudson – a fresh take on the interior design coffee table book that showcases inspirational interiors and the cats that call them home.
His previous book release, Where They Create, is available globally.
ABOUT THE BOOK & PROJECT:
“Paul Barbera’s project documents, through images, creative working spaces from all around the world. With Where They Create, the Australian photographer – who started taking pictures of interiors almost by accident (“it’s the thing I do without thinking”) – changed his voyeurism into a sort of anthropological research. Looking for absurd and hidden things, Barbera enters the studios of international creative people – artists, art directors, architects, designers, stylists – and captures all the details of their personal stories and artistic processes.
Barbera’s curiosity, naturalness and good eye for interiors, together with his ability to transmit emotions and warmth make this project unique. Creatives need to transform their offices into intimate spaces (like a home), and to keep their own things close to be able to create. Others could work anywhere, travelling with the bare essentials as Paul does. But everybody, even if for a while, leaves personal traces, aspects that don’t pass unnoticed… if you are able to catch them.
Initially thought only as a blog, Where They Create turned into a book thanks to the interest of Frame Publishers.”
Where They’ is a visual documentation of the creative environments of artist & people, that meet during my travels, of homes and studios.
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