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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Ketch Rossi: Evolution

Ketch Rossi has transitioned from a pure still photographer to a *Cinephotographer, and his latest projects are visually gripping, multimedia philanthropic endeavors

This Article Features Photo Zoom

Ketch Rossi: When we first received the RED EPIC M8 camera, I embarked on a countrywide trip in the USA, showing off the camera and giving free workshops. Chicago was one of these stops. We got together with a few colleagues and friends for a wonderful collaboration, which ended up as my first fashion film, Carly. I enjoy collaborations very much, and my TREE of LiFE™ project is that on a grand scale.

DPP: What's the project about?

Ketch Rossi: KETCH ROSSi TREE of LiFE™ is an initiative we hope will change millions of lives for the better. It will be comprised of the world's largest and most advanced movie studios, state-of-the-art R&D and production facilities, and much more. Once built, it will bring to life a new way of doing business, a new way of creating art, and a new way of helping humanity and the preservation of our planet by donating up to 50% of its yearly profits to serve honorable charity causes.

Its sister organization KETCH ROSSi HUMANiTAS™ will operate our School of Dreams, where initially up to 100 scholarships per year will be awarded to international students, and when completed and at full capacity, such facilities will have a capacity of up to 1,000 students. International students will come to Italy to learn the arts of cinematography and photography in inspiring settings, surrounded by some of the best international teachers, professionals and celebrities. Each group of film students will learn how to write, direct, produce, film, edit, postproduce and distribute their own short and feature-length films in an ultra-high-definition 4K finish, as well as how to integrate photography via frame-grabbing. They will be producing materials that will further educate and inspire many more around the world. While learning, they will also directly participate in helping others.

DPP: Difficulties in your childhood have had a major impact on your life. It seems like you're the epitome of a person who can turn a negative into a positive.

Ketch Rossi at work on the set.

Ketch Rossi: I come from a very troubled childhood, where I needed to hide away to escape a horrible world that was darkening my life and that of my siblings. They were painful experiences due to the abuses suffered by the hand of my alcoholic stepfather. I would get my younger brother and sisters into the safety of a locked room and tell them stories. My stories would become our escape, our door to another world, to a safe haven.

And because of the nightmare at home, I spent much time deeply involved in my passion for photography. It seemed as if when I was photographing something—for years just with my mind and later with a camera—I just couldn't think of anything else around me. My life would stop existing in those moments and I would become someone else. I would concentrate so deeply on capturing that frame, understanding the light on it and how I could change the way that light presented the subject to be photographed. And in doing so, I would just go into a dream status and create an image to freeze in time. It was through this process, that with every result, I would get inspired to try something else to see the results from those changes and always persevere to do better.

In truth, I get inspired every day, by so many different things, by life itself, or by observing someone else's photographs or movies.

To see more of Ketch Rossi's photography, visit www.ketchrossistudios.com.