Meet Flavio Sanguinetti -

The multiple faces of the artist captured with one lens

You might have seen him on the stage of La Voz Perú singing Y se llama Perú by Augusto Polo Campos. His name is Flavio Sanguinetti and he was born in Perú to Italian parents.Music was his first passion. At 16 he started to compose his own songs, one of which shared the text with us. It is titled I Will Follow You and you will find the lyrics at the end of the article.One year later he founded a rock band that brought him to move the first steps toward the success. Soon Flavio signed with Peer Music, an American company based in Perú, and he recorded his first album De corazón. Flavio is a poliedric artist. Beside being a singer and songwriter he is a talented visual artist and an actor. He attributes his penchant for art to being influenced by his Italian cultural heritage. His paternal grandparents excaped from Milan, Italy, to Lima, Perú during the Second World War. He was raised following family values, loyalty and love and above all he was sensitized to art and beauty. His strong empathy, the sense of wonder and the curiosity inspired him to catch the inner reality of life, to capture the deepest aspects of a moment. Flavio decided to specialize in Documentary Photography and became soon capable of expressing the deepest essence of any instant.

Through his lens he is able to reach the purity of moments. There is no need for frills and fancy “furnishings”. What you need to see you see it. It is there and it talks to you. It is imprinted in the moment! This concept is clearly expressed and is shared in his book Portraits of the Soul.

Portraits of the Soul is an inner document of the human soul. It shows the daily struggle of ordinary people. Their expressions are imbued with heroism and dignity that support them in facing difficulties.

During his life Flavio also has faced adversities that made him suffer. However through art he was capable to keep his essence intact and to get stronger. In his other book entitled My Camera and Me he focuses more on the relationship between man and his surroundings that, in this case, is the cement city. It appears as, in this book, he is telling about himself through the image of the other.

Flavio’s life has had ups and downs. He has experienced triumphs and defeats. Many situations have been difficult to overcome, however a great strength and determination emerges which helps him to succeed. His works are getting noticed and very appreciated. Those who live in Europe can visit Flavio exhibition this coming June, at the Embassy of Perú in Berlin, Germany. Those who live instead in California, can join us on May 4th at the event : Mediterranean Cocktail of Art where some of his works will be exhibit to the public. In this interview we get to know Flavio Sanguinetti better and find out what he does with art.

How about this man behind the camera?

F.S.: “I love transmitting affection to the people around me. I am a family man, I love my family, I love my wife and children, which is my engine to keep going. Art for me is everything, I breathe art wherever I go, for me the world we live in is full of art.”

How do you describe Perú?

F.S.: “Perú is a wonderful country, full of history, from the time of the Spanish colonization to the present day. Perú has beautiful landscapes, beautiful and friendly people. In my country Peru there is a lot of European influence. In turn, Perú is a country with a lot of history, a lot of mysticism, a lot of art and bohemia. In turn, Peruvian gastronomy is exquisite, recognized worldwide. Perú has three regions, Coast, Sierra and Jungle, an enviable ecosystem, and has a very rich sea (Pacific Ocean), then we have Cusco, known as the Navel of the World, this is the city of the Incas. We could stay for hours talking about Perú.”

How about your Italian heritage?

F.S.: “My paternal grandparents came from Milan escaping from the Second World War. My grandfather was a soldier. He fell madly in love with my grandmother. They arrived by boat in Lima-Perú , at the port of Callao. Like in every Italian family, I was taught values. I was taught to protect the family. Art has always gone hand in hand. Since a very young age I was taught to value art, to read books, drawing, singing and what my parents always told me was that you have to love art to convey a real feeling. Italian culture influenced me a lot. There is nothing more beautiful than being influenced by the culture of my relatives. In turn, the culture of my native country, Perú , is very beautiful and captivating, it has a lot of Italian and European architecture. We always walked down the street with my grandparents, and they told me that Lima-Perú has a lot of Italian architecture. I haven’t had the opportunity to travel to Italy, but the first city I would visit is my grandparents’, Milan, then I would love to go to Naples, Rome and Venice. All these cities that I would love to visit with my wife and the love of my life, Emily.

Listening to my grandparents motivated me a lot to develop art. I believe that passing on tradition is very important, – without tradition there is no art – I believe that all artists are influenced by their own tradition, since it becomes part of you.”

What are your memories about the beginning of your career as a singer songwriter?

F.S.: ”I started to write my own songs at 16. I remember one song that I composed with my friend Mateo Chiarella. It is entitled “I will follow you”, and I dedicated this song to my mom. I was lucky that a representative of this musical company, the producer Jose Lindley, saw in me the conditions to be able to develop and record my first album, and as always thank my musicians and producers of that time, to whom I am very grateful. They have always supported me on my way as a singer (Saul Cornejo, Miguel Angel Yance, Marlow Lazares and Braulio Jordan) they have always accompanied me on this long journey that is music.

How did you experience your participation on La Voz Perú?

F.S.: ”It was a nice experience. I have very nice memories, I’ve got very good friends. It helped me a lot to develop as an artist and as a human being as well.”

How about your activity as a minimalist photographer?

F.S.: ”Photography has no words for me. It is very difficult to express a feeling, the only thing I can say is that thanks to my lens I can capture the most beautiful moments, the most beautiful memories and wonderful landscapes. I try to be honest with what I photograph. I am not only a minimalist photographer, I am also a documentary photographer. Documentary photography has stuck to my soul, each person, each look, each laugh of the people that I capture with my camera, transmits love and spirituality. I love photography, I love everyday life, I love nature. I believe that we can all be photographers, but very few are able to capture the soul and spirit of each person“.

Can you tell more about you as a documentary photographer?

F.S.: “My experience has been enriching. I have managed to get involved in people’s daily lives, and that has helped me to find myself in order to capture the richest and most sensitive moments of each one.”

When you take a shot, do you care more about technique or you let guide you from your heart/feeling?

F.S.: ”What a good question, I have always been guided by my intuition and love. Being a documentary and minimalist photographer, you have to know how to be guided by what your heart says, the most important thing is to transmit art. I don’t sell advertising or technique, I sell art.”