Meet Mariano De Luca | Director of Photography / Cinematographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mariano De Luca and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mariano, how do you think about risk?
As a Director of Photography, the word “Risk” is basically everywhere! Any artistic career mixes life and work, there is no one or the other. As an Artist you have to be permeable to everything that happens around you at personal or professional level, and that’s why you deal with a high percentage of risk. From the very basics of just being strong enough to put your work out there for everyone to see, to that crucial decision to accept or turn down a project that might put yourself in the spot. In my case, every step forward felt and keep feeling like taking risk. All the decisions I’ve made changed somehow my life and my career. Sometimes for the best and some for the worst. I even move to a different country to keep going with my career, so that means that there is no decision in your life that is risk free. I like to say: “Never regret of something that you didn’t do…” is always better to try, and if it doesn’t work there is always a way to fix it!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Cinematography for me is a place of joy. I really enjoy what I do, that’s probably because I love what I do. Like every other artistic craft, there are some guides, tools and rules, but in the end is the translation of your own imagination to the screen. You are trying to put into the screen every single image that comes to your mind after reading a script, sometimes it happens the exact way you imagine and sometimes evolve into something else. That’s why is a collaborative process between the Cinematographer (or Director fo Photography) and the Director, The Production Designer, etc. I like to think that every Director of Photography is like a different set of tools, kind of what Painters find in the different styles, Directors of Photography have their own Style. Mine is stylish, a little dark and with a passion for the character driven stories, those that you can connect as a viewer and get you thinking.
It’s never easy, but you can surround yourself with great talent in your crew, so it gets easier. I love having in my crew people that can vibrate along with me. It is important for me that everyone is in the same page, because you can enter the creative process with a whole group of people behind you, instead of just yourself.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Every time I have the opportunity to go to a new place, I like to do the “normal” way of life for the place, that means no touristy places, but more of what’s really happening there in the day-to-day life. So that’s what I’d do when a friend is visiting. I would take them to places that usually a normal tourist wouldn’t go. Probably unknown parks, hidden bars, different neighborhoods, and then probably in the last day I’ll take them in a quick run around the “tourist” places. I feel that knowing the day-to-day life of a new city, is way more interesting than doing the usual Tourist places run.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
A lot of people deserve recognition for where I am today. Starting with my family, Mom, Dad and my Sister, they are the ones that keep me going and that supported me in every decision I took for my career development. There is my first cinematography teacher, Claudio, without him I wouldn’t be a Director of Photography. Also my friends, some who from the distance are still there and others that helped me so much when I moved to Los Angeles. I have to thank all the crew that I work with, the directors and producers who trust me with their projects and also my mentor, Fernando, who has been an invaluable part in my growing as a Director of Photography.

Website: www.marianodelucadp.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/marianodelucadp

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/marianodelucadp

Image Credits
Brian Douglas, Jonathan Barenboim, Cristia Tati