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INTERVIEWS,  IntImate Interview,  News

Mobile Photography & Art – ‘Intimate Interview’ with Marilisa Andriani @mitrydate from Molfetta, Puglia, Italy

Our fifty fourth interview in this new series of intimate interviews is with talented mobile photographer and artist Marilisa Andriani from Molfetta, Puglia, South of Italy and whom you may recognise from her popular Instagram account @mitrydate.  This is a tender and evocative interview with spellbinding imagery.  Enjoy!

To read the other published interviews in this series including artists, Adria Ellis, Rino Rossi, Mehmet Duyulmus, Alexis Rotella, Lou Ann Sanford Donahue, Irene Oleksiuk, Kerry Mitchell, Filiz Ak, Dale Botha, Lisa Mitchell, M. Cecilia Sao Thiago, Deborah McMillion, Rita Colantonio, Amy Ecenbarger, Jane Schultz, Anca Balaj, Joyce Harkin, Armineh Hovanesian, Kate Zari Roberts, Vicki Cooper, Peter Wilkin, Barbara Braman, Becky Menzies, Sukru Mehmet Omur, Sarah Bichachi, Michel Pretterklieber, Alon Goldsmith, Judy Lurie Whalberg, Andrea Bigiarni, Sean Hayes, Oola Cristina, Kathleen Magner-Rios, Linda Toki, Deb Field, Emilo Nadales, Lydia Cassatt, David Hayes, Jean Hutter, Frederic Deschênes, Mark Schnidman, Fatma Korkut, Fleur Schim, Rob Pearson-Wright, Dieter Gaebel, James Ellis, Marco P Prado, Jeronimo Sanz, Manuela Matos Monteiro, Bleu Chemiko, Manuela Basaldella, Stefania Piccioni, Luis Rodríguez and myself, go here.

All images ©Marilisa Andriani

What was your earliest childhood ambition?

As a child, I’m sure I never had any particular ambitions. I was a little girl who grew up with two younger brothers and therefore not being able to share feminine passions at home, I have always had my own world, soloist, made of play and discovery for what I didn’t know.

First Recognition?

My first acknowledgments were the achievements at the lyric institutions where, after having participated with auditions for the choir, of theaters such as the “Opera” of Rome first, and the “Teatro alla Scala” later, I was able to feed on Art at the highest levels.

In the photographic field, on the other hand, there have been several awards received from international photography hubs. Thanks to @14&15mobilephotographers and to @friendsinperson, I had the opportunity to be selected together with 99 other photographers in the world for writing the book “50K” following a large selection of over 250 participants in 2017. In 2018 instead, again following a new competition, “Metropolis”, announced by @14&15mobilephotographers together with @bnw_demand, I had the honor of being chosen along with other great artists of the panorama world, and appear in this other wonderful photo album. Thanks to @rainstation, one of my shots was chosen to take part in an exhibition held in London at the Saatchi Gallery. Great honor, for me! And finally, among other things, great honor has been and is to receive mentions from Joanne Carter, a Woman champion of art that allows @theappwhisperer to spread the creativity and beauty of the image in the world through photography.

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‘Allo Specchio’ ©Marilisa Andriani

First Job?

My first assumption took place at the Petruzzelli theater in Bari and the Politeama theater in Lecce, immediately after I obtained my diploma in opera singing. I failed to mention, that I am a musician. I do not like the labels of “singer”, “pianist”, disciplines that I cultivate from the age of 6 and which are my profession. I really like musician!

Private or State school?

I have always studied in public schools for the achievement of maturity. My singing and piano music studies, on the other hand, were all private.

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‘Merletti’ ©Marilisa Andriani

University or work?

At 21, after graduating in opera singing with the Spanish mezzo-soprano Maria Coronada Herrera, I attended masterclasses with distinguished singers of the caliber of Alfredo Kraus, Gianni Raimondi, Paolo Washington, Katia Ricciarelli and many others still wanting to pursue a solo career. But at the same time, I tried to audition in the choir, for economic autonomy. In the end, I opted for the latter activity, for several reasons.

Who was or still is your mentor?

I am very close to my father. He has always been the point of reference in my life.

As for my work, there are several artists who have marked my path … Thanks to work meetings that gave me strong emotions, as well as allowed me to strengthen my artistic technique. In photography, I learned to understand that so many photograph … Me included .. But the real Masters, are those who are no longer with us .. Here, only they have a special charm on me .. It will also be because they had the luck of portraying a slice of life from a time that no longer exists.

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‘Silente Melodia’ ©Marilisa Andriani

How physically fit are you?

I would say that for my 50 years, just turned, I can’t complain. I don’t like doing sport and struggling to be fit .. Maybe because I am long-limbed … And this helps me..I love swimming, when I feel like it … In the pool or at the sea.

Ambition or Talent. What matters more to success?

Talent and a dose of healthy unconsciousness. I have never been ambitious. I believe in hard work, in perseverance. And above all, I always want to like it. Self-esteem for me matters a lot. With this premise, everything that comes into life is gospel. This is what I think.

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‘Ritratto con cappello’ ©Marilisa Andriani

How politically committed are you?

Politics does not belong to me. I have my policy. What makes me live in respect of others, my work, nature and so on. I have never needed politics in my life path. I would continue to think of something else …

What would you like to own that you don’t currently possess?

I have everything I need! Health, family, an adorable son and a loving and caring husband. Perhaps some extra money would not please me to travel more. We musicians, artisans of music do not sail in gold.

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‘Registrazione di uno scatto’ ©Marilisa Andriani

What is your biggest extravagance?

Probably, publish several shots a day, on Instagram, elaborating curious edits so as not to get bored … Hahah! I hope not to annoy my followers … But it is an antistress for me, photography.

I think mine has become a craze! Photography has always been in the ropes, in the family. My father shot with a Yashica in the cockpit .. I was one of his favorite subjects for the portraits he loved and still loves today! I then rediscovered it thanks to Instagram. Much faster, thanks to the cameras of the telephone devices and the applications that I believe make the fun guaranteed!

In which places are you happiest?

Everywhere. But I love breathing beauty.

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‘Grafitti’ ©Marilisa Andriani

What ambitions do you still have?

I would like a bright future for my son. This is my greatest ambition.

What drives you on?

Optimism and proactivity.

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‘Riflettendosi’ ©Marilisa Andriani

What do you find most irritating in other people?

Nothing. I live and let live. I only attend freely whom I esteem.

If your twenty year old self could see you now, what would she think?

I think she would compliment me on how I fought to date.

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‘Vintage eye’ ©Marilisa Andriani

Which object that you’ve lost do you wish you still had?

I’m not tied to material things. I like to renew myself, even keeping the memory of what I no longer have.

What is the greatest challenge of our time?

Rediscover human dignity. We live in a very poor society .. I am very sad about this ..

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‘Tribale’ ©Marilisa Andriani

Do you believe in an afterlife?

Yup! I already see myself up there conversing to the point of exhaustion with all those whom I have met in life … Poor them .. Ahah !!

If you had to rate your satisfaction with life so far, out of 10, what would you score?

Nine! Perfection does not exist!

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‘Medea’ ©Marilisa Andriani

Contact Details for Marilisa Andriani @mitrydate

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‘Blue’ ©Marilisa Andriani

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‘Belle Epoque’ ©Marilisa Andriani

Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]