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We are trying to develop a community where photographers can come and discuss nature, wildlife and pet photography related matters. We encourage you to enter the forums to share, make comments or ask questions about this interview or any other content of NWP.
This article is Copyright 2006, James Morrissey, and may not, in part or in whole, be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. The images in this article are the property of Daisy Gilardini and have been licensed to James Morrissey and the NWP Photo Forum for the purpose of this interview.
Editor's Note: A link is at the end of the page if you wish to learn more about Daisy Gilardini and her work.
Part I: About Daisy Gilardini
JM: Good afternoon and thank you very much for being willing to do this.
DG: It’s my pleasure.
(c) Daisy Gilardini
JM: What can you tell me about yourself?
DG: I was born 37 years ago in Ticino, the sunshine state of Switzerland. I grew up in a small village near the tourist town of Lugano - a town with 52’000 inhabitants. Lugano lies on a wonderful lake in the pre-Alps. Living very close to Italy, my first language is Italian but I also speak fluent French and English.
After high school, I studied finance and became Swiss certified expert in accounting and controlling. I finished my studies in 1999 when I was 31. I was fortunate to get a great job and worked for the same company for 12 years as an accountant. When I achieved my Masters Degree, I opened my own accounting business.
It was not until my first trip to India in 1989 that I began to start taking photography seriously as a business opportunity. Since then I’ve visited more than 30 countries with my camera in hand. In 1999 – when I had my accounting business and more time to travel – I started selling my images.
With a good organization and selection of my accounting clients, I’m able to combine the two activities pretty well. I never accept clients that need my consultancy on a daily basis. By respecting the quarterly deadlines I manage to travel in between.
JM: I would like to go back a little to when you were growing up in Switzerland. Do you have any brothers and sisters?
DG: Yes, I have two older sisters.
JM: So, you are the youngest of three. Was your family a big photographic influence on you and where did photography come in?
DG: No one else in my family was or is good in photography. My mother was a painter and she had an excellent eye. She taught me a lot about perspective and sense of observation. My mother, who passed away a couple of years ago, was very sensitive to nature and inculcated in us a strong sense about environmental protection. She taught us to respect and enjoy it. We spent our childhood skiing in the mountains during winters and hiking in summers. Since I was a child, I loved animals – my dream was to become a vet. I started horse riding at the age of 10. However, life took me somewhere else. I think that the combination of all this lead me to wildlife photography.
JM: Who have been your other significant photographic influences?
DG: No doubt about that! Darrell Gullin is my mentor. I first met him during a trip in 1999. He was the tour leader of a photographic trip to Churchill - Manitoba [Editor's Note: Churchill is one of the premier spots for photographing Polar Bears.] Since then we have kept in touch via e-mail and phone.
I met him again later in New Mexico at a NANPA meeting in 2003 and in North Carolina at the 2005 NANPA meeting. He is great. He believes in me and pushes me as much as he can. He is an excellent teacher. He loves to share his knowledge and loves contact with people. This makes him very different from many European photographers who are more jealous of their work and knowledge.
NANPA has also been an important resource. I have been introduced to so many people through NANPA. As a result of this experience, more and more people are coming to me - not the other way around - and this has never happened before.
Darrell has also been a huge help to me recently as I have just switched from film to digital. I am learning all about digital workflow.
JM: What did you purchase?
DG: I just purchased a Nikon D2x. It has been a little hard because Darrel photographs with Canon and I am a Nikon owner. I am already amazed by the colors from the camera.
JM: Has it been hard converting from film to digital?
DG: Yes. Particularly when I am shooting outside in bright light. I find that it is very hard to look at the LCD display. I know I was initially very worried when I first took some shots and I thought they were not very good until I opened them up on the computer. Then I was pretty amazed.
(c) Daisy Gilardini
JM: What drives you photographically?
DG: I love to spend time on the field surrounded by nature and wildlife. I feel comfortable when I am photographing. Since I have been doing this, I have learned that I can do just about everything. Before my trip to Kamchatka, in Russia's Far East, in 2000, I would say that “I could adapt to anything as long as its clean.” After that trip I can say “I can adapt to everything.” In Kamchatka, I faced disgusting situations. I would look at the mattress and say…. “No way am I going to sleep on this…” yet, I would look outside and see the beauty of the place and work to keep that in focus in my mind. I learned that by doing this, I was able to overcome any difficulty. In addition, I’m lucky as I have the power to forget the bad experiences I faced during my trips and can only remember the beauty of the special places I have had the chance to visit.
Besides my personal pleasure doing photography, another essential point that drives me is the awareness of how important images are nowadays. Images can speak very loudly and I think that this is the only way for me to contribute somehow to the protection of our fragile environment. My images say “Look how amazing our world is, look what’s out there. We must save this. I realize some of you cannot touch this or see it with your own eyes, but it's there. You can help protect this for the next generations.”
I deeply believe in our educational potential and I’m really proud to be writing a children's column for a weekly newspaper. Every two weeks, they publish an article describing an animal, its habitat and habits. Included in this article are small games and quizzes. It is something really stimulating for me. This is especially so when I receive e-mails from children congratulating me for my images.
(c) Daisy Gilardini
Recently I even got a request from a school asking me to use my articles for their science classes. The children of today will be the governors of tomorrow and I think it is essential to sensitize them to the actual global environmental problems. I’m deeply convinced that this is the only way which will have a great impact on our future.
If you are interested in learning more about Daisy Gilardini, you can visit: www.daisygilardini.com.
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